


Taught Love AU

by UselessLesbianWriter



Series: Taught Love AU [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Dark Past, F/F, F/M, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-02-10 13:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 25
Words: 35,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18661147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UselessLesbianWriter/pseuds/UselessLesbianWriter
Summary: Yang is a single mother to a small faunus boy, whom she adopted a year before. She enrolls him into a Kindergarten, which has a beautiful Principal; Blake Belladonna. Yang struggles with the attraction she feels, having been betrayed several times before. How will the story end? Will Yang learn her lesson, or will all that was built fall to pieces?Rated T for language, and scenes





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> I am re-posting this story from another site (Fanfiction.net) where my username is the same. Please ENJOY

Yang stopped in front of the Kindergarten, she stares at the steps leading to the glass door.

"Yangy, can we go in now please?" She sighs and looks over at Adrian, the little ram faunus boy she adopted a year before.

They walked hand-in-hand up the stairs, and through the glass door. The smell of vanilla hit their noses when they entered, it was faint but still noticeable. They were in the waiting room, it had seats to their left, and a lady at a desk to their right. Yang walked up to the desk, Adrian following with his hand still in her's.

"Yes, umm, I'm here with my kid to talk to the Principal... Miss Belladonna? We talked on the phone, I'm Miss Xiao Long." Yang said nervously. 

The young lady looked up and smiled. "Of course, I have your appointment right here. Follow me." She stood up and went down a hallway behind the desk, Yang and Adrian followed her to the end of the hallway, and through a door.

Inside the room was a large mahogany desk, with a computer and some files on it. Behind the desk sat a raven haired cat faunus, who Yang presumed to be Miss Belladonna. She was beautiful, and her amber eyes seemed to shine in the sunlight coming in from the windows that line the back wall of the office.

"Miss Belladonna, Miss Xiao Long is here to see you with her kid."

"Yes, thank you Lilly." The principal said calmly. Lilly nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her.

The raven-haired woman stood up and moved around the desk, keeping eye-contact with Yang. She held her hand out with a soothing smile, and Yang shook it. Both re-saying their introductions.

"Blake Belladonna."

"Yang Xiao Long."

"And you must be Adrian!" Blake said, turning to the little kid who was snuggled up to Yang's side. He nodded, smiling back a little. They shook hands and Adrian seemed much more comfortable around the older woman after that. This made Yang happy; if she did decide to enroll him here, then she knew that he would at least like his principal.

"How about you two have a seat, and we will talk." She said, going back around her desk and sitting down. Also pointing out the two chairs in front of the desk. Yang sat in one of them, but Adrian decided he wanted to go to the corner of the office that had children's books in it; to read and look at the pictures.

Yang and Blake talked for a little bit about what the school taught, and some of their values. The blonde decided (after talking a little bit with Adrian and hearing what he thought) that she would enroll him into the Kindergarten.

"Alright, Lilly will give you a call to go through all the paperwork etcetera."

"Ok, thank you Miss Belladonna."

"Please, call me Blake." Blake said in her usual calm, but welcoming voice. Yang smiled.

"Only if you call me Yang." The blonde easily responded. Blake chuckles, and opens the door for them.

"Deal."


	2. First day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't a huge slowburn, but they will stay in the friend zone for awhile. Oh, and for some reason the ending note won't stay on the previous chapter, so your getting the ending note for the intro instead of this chapter. Please ENJOY

"Shit..." Yang muttered to herself when she couldn't find her keys.

"Yangy! I'm gonna be late for my first day!"

"No you won't buddy!" Yang called down the stairs to Adrian, looking back to her drawer; she resumed rifling through her bedside table where she usually kept her keys. "Just gotta find my keys..." She murmured, talking to herself again.

"Adrian, do you know where my keys are?!" Yang called out, giving up on the drawer and walking to her bedroom's doorway.

"You left them on the kitchen counter!" His words reminded Yang that she had brought them down when she went to make Adrian's breakfast so she wouldn't have to go back up the stairs... which was obviously a fail. Yang glanced at the clock, which was hanging on the wall next to the stairs. 7:45 'Damn, we might just be late.'

"You all ready A?" She asked when she reached the bottom of the stairs. The little boy nodded, he was standing by the door; anxious to get going. Yang grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter, walking swiftly to the door and opening it for the both of them. The five year-old raced to the car, waiting to hear the sound of it unlocking before attempting to pull the door open. It was still a little too heavy, so Yang pulled it the rest of the way open before proceeding to her seat.

She buckled herself in and glanced at Adrian in the mirror, he pulled his door closed using both hands, she smiled. Yang turned the car on.

"All buckled up back there?" A soft click was heard.

"Yep!"

They drove off, Adrian's Kindergarten was only 10 minutes away so the drive was short, and too soon for Yang; they were in front of it. Adrian got unbuckled, and Yang opened the door for him. He ran ahead, his black AchieveMen backpack bouncing.

When they made it in; Adrian decided to walk next to Yang, looking shyly at Blake and a blue-haired man who were talking in the hallway leading to Adrian's classroom. Blake noticed them and turned, smiling.

"Hey there! You're just in time. This is your teacher Mr. Vasilias..." The (very beautiful) woman started, but the man cut-in.

"But you can just call me Mr Neptune, Ok buddy?" He had a friendly sounding voice, which cleared up the worry in the back of Yang's mind that Adrian might have a mean teacher. Adrian nodded, smiling shyly.

"How about you head into classroom and put your backpack in your cubbie?" Blake asked, leaning down to look Adrian levelly in the eyes. Once again, the little boy nodded; giving Yang a big hug before he runs off.

Neptune and Blake turned to Yang.

"You know, you don't have to walk him in. Only come in to pick him up." The man commented.

"I-i know, I just wanted to make sure you knew everything about his allergies, and I wanted to make sure he settled in. You do know about the raisins, don't you?" The blonde fretted. This caused Blake to smile consolingly at the worrying mother, whose hands were clasped in front of her, and her eyes not leaving the doorway her son disappeared behind.

"Neptune was fully informed of Adrian's allergy Miss Xiao... Yang." Blake informed Yang, who managed to smile at the use of her first name.

"Good... and the Evergreens?"

"We'll make sure to keep him away from those." Neptune said in a sort of comforting, cheery way.

"Ok... cool. I'm gonna say good-bye, then I'll get out of your hair." She nervously went to the open classroom door, scanning the children until she found Adrian playing with another boy. Yang waved at him, mouthing 'good-bye'. Adrian waved and and mouthed 'good-bye' back.

Yang left the building after saying her good-byes to Blake and Neptune. She got into her red mini van, and started to drive to work. Yang is a fitness trainer at the local gym, the pay isn't amazing, but she's gotten by on it so far.

Her scroll rang, Yang picked it up and answered without seeing who it was.

"Hello?"

"Hey Yang!"

She grinned at the sound of a wonderfully familiar voice.

"Hi Ruby! What are you doing up, I thought you took this week off?"

"Weiss's car broke down, so I needed to drive her to work."

"Ah, I told her that old thing wasn't going to last long. Not even Atlas technology can fix it!" Ruby laughed at her gloating words, Yang had indeed warned Weiss; but the 'Ice Queen' being competitive meant that she had to accept the challenge.

"Are you driving to work?"

"Yep, just dropped Adrian off."

"How's he doing?" Ruby queried, while Yang took a right onto Cornpatch Street.

"Good, he's made a friend already... he has a really nice teacher, and his Principal, Blake, seems really great."

"How are you holding up?"

"Fine, why is it that the first days are so hard?"

"Because you just spent the whole summer with him, went on vacation with him. You're just so used to having him at home, or with me, that it's difficult for you to release him into the unknown." Yang sighed again, Ruby isn't the wisest person on the planet; but at the moment she was very right.

"What are you going to do today?" She asked to get the topic off of her.

"I dunno, I think I'm going to go and visit Weiss on her lunch break. Maybe play some video games."

"Ok, you have fun Rubes. I'm pulling into to work now."

"Ok Yang, I love you!"

"I love you too." She hung up, putting the device in her pocket.

'Ugh, another day at work. Got everything?' Yang looked around her car, seeing what she needed and grabbing it. 'Yep, now I just need to go in and help Mrs. Williams lose weight before her son's wedding.'


	3. Stuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, here is a yangsty chapter. Please leave a comment and kudos, ENJOY

_Ring, ring_

"C'mon Ruby..."

_Ring, ring_

"C'mon, pick up your scroll."

_Beep_

_"Hey! This is a recording of Ruby Rose, and if you are hearing it; I'm not available. Try again later after you leave a message!"_

Yang banged her head against the wall in the employee's break room. "The one damn time I need her to respond!"

"What's up?"

Yang turned to see her coworker and fellow personal trainer, Sun, standing there. His tail twitching, and flicking about behind him.

"My car got a flat tire somehow, and I need to pick Adrian up. And of course Ruby isn't answering!"

Thoughtfully, the faunus put a hand to his chin, "I could drive you."

Yang perked up, looking her friend in the eye, "Are you sure?" She asked hopefully.

He flashed his easy going smile and waved his hand as if to brush the question away. "Yeah! I'm getting of in five minutes anyway, and it's on my way."

Yang walked forward and gave Sun a one armed hug, "Thank you so much! I'll text Blake that we're going to be a minute or two late."

Sun nodded, leaving the break room to do whatever until his five minutes were over. He knew about her situation and had met Adrian a few times, the little boy had become a sort of little brother to him.

Yang quickly typed out a message, explaining about what happened, and that they'd be there soon. Before a minute had passed; Blake responded with a succinct 'I understand'.

Soon enough, the blonde pair were in Sun's white truck; heading off to Adrian's Kindergarten.

"So... how's Ruby?" Sun asked, trying to break the silence.

"Oh, she's good. Still dating Weiss... I swear, I don't know what she sees in that woman!" Sun chuckled at the comment; remembering the time he met the infamous  _Weiss Schnee_.

"Heh, I guess time will tell."

Yang looked over, curious as to what he meant. "Hmm?"

"You don't remember the way she looked at her? Ruby definitely wants her relationship with Weiss to be permanent, whether the rich heiress feels the same is another story." The car lapsed into more silence.

"When did you become so insightful?"

"Eh, dunno. Just sorta happened." Sun said, and they both laughed lightly; the silence that followed much more comfortable than the first two.

They pulled into the parking lot, parking in front of the stairs leading to the glass door.

"Wait here, I'll be right back." Yang hopped out of the car, jogged up the six steps to the door, and went through it quickly. The smell of vanilla reentered her nose as she made her way into the waiting room. She turned to her right, greeted with Lily smiling back at her.

"I heard you come in. Adrian is in his classroom with Mister Vasilias, you're not that late, only by five minutes." She said kindly.

Yang nodded gratefully, going to the door and opening it.

Neptune and Adrian were playing in the middle of floor, it looked like they were playing  _Go-fish_.

"Yangy! I'm beating Mister Neptune!" The boy shouted.

Neptune chuckled, ruffling Adrian's hair, then turned to Yang, "Blake said she needed to talk to you in her office before you picked up Adrian."

Yang felt her heart clench slightly, becoming nervous as to what it could be about. "Ok... buddy?" Adrian looked up. "I'm going to go talk to Miss Belladonna, be good until I get back Ok?" She said, hoping that he couldn't hear the worry in her tone. He nodded solemnly, so Yang turned and went down the hallway by Lily's desk, stopping in front of Blake's office door to take a deep breath, then knocking three times.

"Come in."

She opened the door slowly, entering, and closing it behind her.

"Take a seat."

When Yang sat down, Blake sighed, pushing her reading glasses to the top of her head and meeting Yang's eyes with her amber ones.

"I asked for you to come here so I can discuss something I noticed in Adrian." Yang definitely became very worried by that statement; hoping against all odds that Adrian didn't show any signs of aggressive behavior. Why else would Blake want to talk to her about him? But he has always been so sweet... "He doesn't seem able to understand simple written words; getting frustrated when he can't figure out what something means. We can't say anything for sure, but after watching him for a week now... we think he might be dyslexic. As I said; we can't tell or say anything for sure, he could just be a little slower, but he has incredible skills in math when he knows what he is supposed to do. I, and Mr. Vasilias, recommend testing his IQ. That should help determine what the problem is, if there even is one."

Yang stared blankly back at Blake, "Dyslexic?"

Blake nodded, looking sympathetically back at the stunned mother.

"But he's so smart..."

"He is, but reading is something he is having incredible trouble with. Right now we are only working on small, simple words such as; cat, dog, bat. Adrian knows what those things are and can recognize them, but when it comes to reading... he just doesn't understand."

Yang slumped back into her chair, rubbing her temple. "Shit."

"It's nothing that can't easily be helped, with just a little extra tutoring; he should be on the same level as the rest of his class. There's really nothing to get upset about."

Yang realized how she must have come across, so she quickly corrected herself, "No, I'm not upset at all! I just - he's already an oppressed race, I don't want him to get into high school or elementary; and get bullied because he can't understand things the same way the rest of the kids can. I'm afraid some of his feelings of... loneliness will come back." Blake raised an eyebrow. "When I adopted him I was in an - abusive relationship. Or rather, trying to break out of one. I was passing by the orphanage, and on a whim, went in. I just looked around, not seeing anyone I was particularly interested in, I turned around to leave... and Adrian was there." Yang took a deep breath here before continuing.

"He was standing in a corner, it looked like he was hiding from someone, sure enough an older kid came into the hallway the two of us were in. When he saw Adrian; he tried dragging him away, not noticing me. I ruined his moment by pulling him off of Adrian, calling the matron, or whatever the caretaker off those children was called, and telling her what the older kid was doing. I came back every day after that, getting to know Adrian. He told me how he felt there, and I saw first hand how those kids treated him. Deciding in the end to adopt him, against the part of me that was screaming 'no'. The person I was dating hated him, because of his faunus traits. So he ended up leaving of his own accord. I made a vow to never let Adrian feel that way again; now I'm not so sure that was a vow I can keep, no matter how much I want to." The room went completely silent.

Suddenly Blake stood up and walked around her desk, sitting in the chair next to the silently grieving Yang.

"I don't know about elementary school, or high school. But I do know that while Adrian is here; no one will hurt him. I, and Neptune, can both make sure of that. We can also tutor him, and pull some of our connections to see that he gets a long term, permanent, personal tutor once he leaves here. It's going to be Ok, Yang."

The blonde looked up, and smiled at the amber eyes that seemed to be burning with determination. It was a sad moment, bringing a lot of some only recently healed wounds back to the surface... but looking into Blake's eyes seemed to transfer some of the fire into Yang's heart; giving her the resolve to make sure and certain that Adrian wouldn't have any more problems.

"Thank you."

"Absolutely." They sat there for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's presences.

"You should probably go and pick up Adrian now, he and Neptune can't play Go-fish forever."

Yang nodded at this, and stood up going to the door.

"Yang?"

"Yes?"

"I-i... call me if you need anything."

She gave Blake a wide smile, "Of course."

**(LATER THAT NIGHT)**

Yang looked at an old picture of her and Junior... the man who made two years of her life a living hell.

'Never again. No one will make Adrian feel the way this man made me feel, or the way those children at the orphanage made him feel, ever again.'


	4. Evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I don't make money off of this and comments/kudos are welcome. Please ENJOY

Blake made her way up the walk, and to her front door.

When she got in; she shut it behind her, taking her shoes off and throwing them on the shoe tray. Her house wasn't spotless, but it was clean, and the faunus woman placed her keys on the small table by the door; and made her way into the living room. It was neatly decorated, with tan leather couches, a red colored coffee table, and floral pictures placed at intervals on the walls. The fireplace on the far side of the room gave it a slightly homely feel, that went well with overall decor and vibe of the house.

"Now for dinner." Blake moved through the living room, to the kitchen at the other end. She opened the fridge and pulled out the pork chop she had saved for that night, then she grabbed a non-stick pan, some olive oil, herbs and seasonings, and proceeded to pat down the meat; while turning the eye on. Blake moved with a familiarity about the kitchen, grabbing what she needed with ease, chopping the vegetables with deft, practiced speed.

In a half hour; Blake sat down at her kitchen island, which also doubled as a dinning room table, and ate her hot meal of a pork chop, steamed vegetables, and a fruit salad.

Once she finished eating it it; Blake put her dishes in the sink, then washed them. When she was done doing that; she made her way to her bedroom across from the living room, grabbed her clothes, went into the bathroom adjoined with her room and took a shower. Blake spent a minute enjoying the hot water before finishing up, then getting dressed into her pajamas, throwing her dirty clothes into the hamper on her way to bed.

Blake grabbed her reading glasses off of her bedside table, and began the last thing of her night; reading a chapter of a new book she recently bought. Maybe even two, since she had completed everything in a decent amount of time. Her schedule gave her a nice stability, and Blake doesn't like breaking it; but she  _had_  done so well, so two chapters wouldn't hurt anything.

_Buzz_

Blake jumped, begrudgingly looking away from the paragraph, to see her scroll with a lit up screen. It was message from Yang.

It was uncommon for Blake to get a message, a message at this time was even more rare, a message from Yang... added with all of those things; was completely blindsiding.

_"Hey, u up?"_  

Blake stared at the text, unsure if she should respond or not. Blake was well aware of her... duel attractions and had, had a few girlfriends before; the beautiful blonde was a feat she wouldn't even try to reach though. Not just for the sake of professionalism, but also because she spoke of 'him'. Straight was the most likely thing at this point unless Yang was bi; Blake was fully willing to accept that she would just have to get over her mini crush. It was merely based off of looks, after all - she  _is_  gorgeous.

Shaking that thought process out of her head; Blake typed out a message and sent it.

_"Yes."_

_"Can u talk?"_

Startled once again by the immediate response; Blake stared at it for a minute.

_"What do you need?"_ This time it took a minute for a reply to come.

_"Nothing really, I'm just bored. How r u?"_

_"I'm Ok, reading some before I go to sleep."_

_"U like to read?"_

_"Yes, it is one of my favorite pastimes."_

_"What r the others?"_

Blake stared at the message; was Yang showing interest in her hobbies?

_"Well I like gardening, I cook, I also dabble a little in writing. How about you? What do you like to do in your free time?"_

_"Hmm... going out to party, video games, I don't really have any hobbies... I mostly like people, so even when I play video games I play them with my sister or my friends. Lol, I guess my hobby is spending time with other people?"_

Blake chuckled, her book long forgotten as she texted the mother of one of her students.

_"Sounds like a fun hobby! :)"_ The faunus surprised herself with the smiley face, and waited with baited breath for Yang's response.

_"Haha, yeah, it is. ;)"_

Is it stupid for one's heart to jump at a simple smiley face? Blake's did, a single smiley face, and Blake's heart jumped in her chest.

_"What are you doing right now?"_

_"Oh just chilling out on my bed, u?"_

Reality of the time came to Blake when she looked at the clock on her scroll, sadly seeing that she should have already been asleep.

_"Same. Sadly I need to get to sleep. Good night, Yang."_

_"It's fine, I hope u enjoyed talking to me as much as I enjoyed talking to u."_

_"I did."_

_"Good night, Blake, sweet dreams."_

_"Sweet dreams."_

Blake put down her scroll with a heavy heart; she and Yang had talked when she came to pick Adrian up that day. Her fears of Adrian's possible dyslexia being the topic of their discussion. It had ended up to be a far more intimate conversation than she had anticipated, ending with Yang explaining part of her past, and making Blake feel closer to woman than she probably should.

Blake put her book back onto the bedside table, and turned off her lamp.

'Forget about her, Blake, this was just a one time occurrence, nothing more.'

She closed her eyes and and went to sleep, but not before smiling to herself... Yang had said she liked talking to Blake, and against all of the faunus's maturity; she felt like a high school girl with a crush. It may have to come to and end, but Blake would enjoy this feeling, for as long as possible.


	5. Silly Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some - (possibly romantic :p) feelings arrive in this chapter. Remember; I make no money off of this, and comments/kudos highly welcome. Please ENJOY

Yang glanced at the message she just received from Ruby while grabbing her clothes for the day.

_"Yang, Weiss and I went on a date last night, but when I dropped her off at her house; she wouldn't let me kiss her good night. I don't know why, all the other times I've dropped her off at her house she let me kiss her good night. I need help!"_

Yang sighed; it was about time Weiss decided to start cutting Ruby off, the blonde just regretted how much it would hurt her little sister. It was actually kind-of endearing how long Weiss lasted, maybe Ruby did some good in the heiress's life.

 _"Ruby, I can't help u with that, it's between u and Weiss. Maybe u should try and talk to her about it... but I won't tell u how!"_ The response was sent immediately.

_"PLEASE! YANG U HAVE TO HELP ME MORE THAN THAT! R U GOING TO LEAVE UR LITTLE SISTER TO FEND FOR HERSELF?!"_

Then, without waiting for an answer, Ruby started calling Yang. Of course, being the great older sister she is, Yang picked up.

"Ruby..."

"Yang! Don't leave me to die alone! Don't leave me to suffer! Help me! You are my only family, my only kin! You must know that Weiss is the one for my heart, please!"

If Yang hadn't expected Ruby to try and be over dramatic (the knowledge allowing her to mentally prepare herself), she would have laughed."Ruby stop freaking out, it's fine. You'll do fine. And if Weiss rejects you, then she rejects you. If she rejects you harshly, I'll punch her in the face. Just have a little hope, eh?"

Ruby was silent, so putting the scroll on speaker, Yang began getting undressed.

"You don't think we'll last, do you?"

The question made Yang's heart stop, yes it was true, but the dejection in Ruby's voice made her feel exceedingly guilty. 'Just be honest.'

"I told you what I thought about Weiss when you brought her over for dinner. I'm sorry, but no, I never thought that the two of you would last. I'll support you as long as you do... I just don't think you will." A few seconds later, Yang heard the dial tone. Ruby had hung up at the end of Yang's sentence, not wanting to hear anymore from her sister.

The blonde sighed, obviously being honest was not the way to go. How did that conversation go so wrong so fast? It was just fine at first, Ruby was asking for help in an over dramatic fashion, and Yang was rejecting in what she felt was a firm, caring way. It shouldn't have turned out the way it had, Yang should have just lied, or laughed off the comment; anything  _other_  than what she did. 'How the hell am I going to fix this?' She stared at her scroll for a few seconds before putting it on her bed, and finishing getting dressed.

The rest of the morning went quickly, Yang had the day off, but she still needed to get Adrian to school. So the two of them climbed into the car and headed off, singing their favorite AchieveMen songs on the way.

When Yang and Adrian pulled into the driveway; Blake was just getting out of her car. They were a little early, but Yang hadn't expected that they had been  _that_  early. She got out of the car and walked around, opening Adrian's. When he jumped out, they shut the door together, following after Blake who was climbing up the stairs to the door. The faunus boy ran ahead of the two adults, and attempted to open the glass door. Yang saw him struggling, so she raced ahead of Blake (who was one step away from being at the door) and pulled it open with Adrian.

Blake chuckled lightly as she moved past the chivalrous mother and son, meeting the former's gaze. Yang's heart jumped a little at the eye contact, looking for a split second into sparkling amber eyes. It was a weird feeling, but the blonde brushed it off when she went in after Adrian.

Neptune was sitting on the edge of Lily's desk, they were talking - rather, Neptune was talking, and Lily was giggling almost constantly. Once the pair noticed the entrance of their boss, then Yang and Adrian; Neptune jumped off of Lily's desk and proceeded to his classroom, while Lily sat (looking beyond embarrassed) in her chair.

"Hello, Lily." Blake said calmly, moving past.

"U-umm, hi, Miss Belladonna. Miss Xiao Long." Yang smiled warmly at the girl, then turned to Adrian.

"Do you you want me to stay for a minute, or are you Ok playing with Mr. Neptune?"

He seemed to deliberate for a minute. "Mr. Neptune."

She chuckled, then leaned down to get a kiss on the cheek, and give one.

"Have a good day buddy!"

"I will Yangy!" Adrian ran off into his classroom, the backpack bouncing as it always does. Yang was about to leave, but the door to Blake's office caught her eye; their conversation from the other night coming back to mind. Without thinking; Yang walked past Lily, and knocked on the door with the big, black letters.

"Come in."

The door seemed to open in slow-motion, but when it did finally open wide; Yang took a short moment to look at Blake. She was standing by a bookshelf on the right of the room, her reading glasses on, and her eyes scanning the books as her hand glided over them.

"It's um, me. Yang." The faunus turned around to face Yang, she had pushed her glasses on top of her head; so that they rested right in front of her cat ears. The amber eyes seemed to have a molten property to them, most of the time they looked like they had an edge, but this time they looked soft and warm.

"I said 'come in'... so you can come  _all the way_  in." Blake watched amused, as Yang suddenly started into action, rushing in and shutting the door quickly behind her. "What was it you wanted, Miss Xiao Long?"

Yang would have told Blake to call her 'Yang', but she sensed a playfulness in the way she said it, so the idea quickly dispersed.

"Nothing really, I just - yeah, I just walked in here on a whim."

A musical laugh left Blake's lips, her molten eyes glinting momentarily in the light that was streaming in from the windows. "Well then, have a seat. Maybe once I find the book I need, I can satisfy that 'whim'." Blake said, her voice hinting mysterious as to what could happen.

Feeling like butterflies are swarming around her heart, Yang sat in a chair and watched patiently as the beautiful woman before her looked for her book; then stared, enraptured, as Blake's graceful stride carried her to her chair behind the desk. Blake looked at Yang for a few minutes, and the trainer looked right back, not fazed by the staring, nor even noticing how much she actually  _liked_  to stare at the ebony-haired woman.

"So, anything you would like to talk about or say?"

The question made Yang blink, then realize that nothing had been said since Blake had sat down. "No, not really... how's life?"

"I'd say it's going pretty well, you?"

"Actually; not that good." Yang sighed, meeting the faunus's gaze with sincerity. Blake's cat ears twitched, and she leaned her elbows on the table, the molten eyes showed curiosity and concern.

'Cute...' Yang couldn't process her thought before Blake said something, "Why? What has happened?"

"My little sister, Ruby, is dating someone, and that someone is just absolutely not for her. They're stuck-up, snobby, and they flaunt their money in other peoples faces. I don't even want to get into what they said about my house, or Adrian! But, Ruby somehow decided that she liked this person, for some reason unknown to me, but I thought that they surely wouldn't have gone for it. They did. Now my sweet, cookie loving, sister is having relationship problems, because they finally decided to cut the ties! She called me for help, and I gave her some advice. But it wasn't enough for her, so she kept pestering me, until she got me to admit that I didn't like them, that I thought that - they, and Ruby; are not meant to be! Now of course; she's furious at me." Yang hadn't meant to rant, but it still felt good to get that off of her chest.

"Yang, tip. Call, Ruby, was it?" After she got a nod; Blake continued, "Call Ruby, and help her. Truly help her. Give her as much advice as you have, and help her set something up. Right now, Ruby doesn't need opinions Yang, she needs her big sister to be there for her and support her no matter what. Even if you don't like - whoever it is she's dating; it's better to just let relationships run their course. I don't mean step back, but help them and nurture them until they end peacefully, if they end at all. You saying what you said, no matter how true, can only have hurt her, because she wanted...  _needed_  you to help her nurture something she loves. I say all of that from experience, trust me."

The words made sense, and they also made Yang feel guilty... they also gave her an idea.

"Thanks Blake, that really helped a lot! It helped so much, that maybe, of course only if you're willing... you could help me, help her?"

**(THAT EVENING)**

Yang stood outside the door of the address Blake gave her; they were to brainstorm ideas on how to fix what happened with Ruby. They only problem was... Yang couldn't work up the nerve to knock.

'Stupid, just knock! Just just knock, dammit!'

Her hand hovered in the air; wanting nothing more than to rap on the white wood, but a strange nervousness keeping it back. An uneasy feeling was in Yang's gut, most likely due to the fact that she couldn't stop thinking about how she had called Blake 'cute' in her head. And how she couldn't seem to stop staring at the faunus while in her office. And how, when out of her office, she couldn't sop thinking about her! Now she's right outside Blake's house wishing to go in - hoping she will never gain any feelings for her - and also trying to silence her loudly growling stomach that wants the food which is waiting for her inside.

'Stop these silly thoughts! Just knock!'

Yang knocked quickly, before she lost her nerve and stood out there for another ten minutes.

Blake opened the door, and Yang's eyes involuntarily roamed her body. She was wearing a navy blue button up, and black jeans. Blake looked casual enough that it didn't look like she was dressing up, but she also looked so drop-dead gorgeous that Yang couldn't even try to convince herself that she didn't have  _some_  kind-of feelings for Blake.

"Do you have trouble entering doors?"

With a blush, Yang hurried in.

'Stupid, silly thoughts.'


	6. Some Explaining to Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready to meet the rest of team RWBY? Read on. I do not profit from this story. Comments and kudos very welcome and appreciated. Please ENJOY

* * *

"Why are you so nervous?" Blake asked Yang, who's pacing around the ebony-haired woman's neatly decorated living room, anxiously awaiting the time when they should leave.

"Because, Ruby and I have never been in an argument this big before! Now I'm - we're about to go meet her at a cafe. It's an understatement to say that I am nervous!" Yang hears a quiet chuckle coming from the couch, where the faunus woman was sitting relaxedly.

"It's time to go now, so..." Before she can finish whatever she was about to say; the blonde is racing out the door and to her car. She leaps inside and watches as Blake walks down the path - with painstaking slowness. Yang's knee starts to hop up and down while she continues to watch Blake moving at the pace of a snail, she catches sight of the smirk on the raven-haired woman's face as she finally makes it to the car door. Blake gets in and shuts the door behind her, the trainer knows that she is about to move slowly again, so she reaches over and grabs Blake's seat-belt; clicking it into place without wasting a second.

Yang tries to ignore the burning sensation in her hand as she realizes how it brushed across the faunus woman's body, instead focusing on the road as she (literally) sped down it.

They couldn't have gotten to the cafe faster if... they just couldn't have gotten there faster.

It's a race between Yang and reality as she speed walks to the glass door. Blake is right behind her, moving at a more leisurely pace. Yang opens the door, and manages to wait and hold it open for the few seconds before Blake stepped over the threshold.

They look around, staying in one spot as Yang glances at each person until she sees the familiar face of Ruby. An elated feeling wars with the butterflies in her stomach, but that war ends with the victory given to the butterflies at the sight of Weiss sitting next to Ruby.

It's too late to call Ruby and say that she can't come Yang realizes the same second she considered doing that, because now her little sister, and Weiss, were both looking at her.

She stands, frozen. 'Weiss! It had to be the one fucking racist lesbian in the world! Ok, maybe not the  _one_ , but - that doesn't matter! Why her?! Why did Ruby have to bring her?!'

Ruby gave a short wave, now looking confused as to why Yang wasn't getting any closer. Blake also noticed, and Yang felt her take her hand, and pull her forward until they were at the table Ruby and Weiss were at.

"Yang... are you Ok?"

'No!' Yang thought, but the question made her snap back to her senses. "Umm, yeah. I just thought that it was only going to be you showing up."

Ruby narrowed her eyes, and leaned into Weiss a little bit. "Is that a problem? Because we can just leave..."

"No! I-it's fine, I was just shocked."

The red-head nodded, looking relieved that Yang was still willing to resolve this conflict. Blake squeezed Yang's hand, which she was still holding.

"Who's that?" It was Weiss who spoke, looking at Blake, or rather; her cat ears.

'Here goes nothing.' Yang thought nervously, taking a small intake of breath before introducing Blake, "Ruby... Weiss, this is Blake Belladonna. She's Adrian's Principal, I think I mentioned her to you Rubes."

Ruby, for the first time that night, let go of Weiss's hand and stood. She took a step forward and put out her hand, but there was something in her eyes; mischievousness.

"Hello! Nice to meet you! Yang did, in fact, mention you. Something about your beauty, teaching skills, skills with kids..." Ruby was cut of by Yang's hand in her face. Weiss stood then, and pulled Yang's hand away, to reveal a grinning Ruby. Blake, to Yang's dismay, found this amusing and flattering.

"It's a great pleasure for me to meet you Ruby. Well - concerning what Yang 'mentioned' about me - I can't be the judge of my own beauty, but Yang's beauty, is something I can attest to." Blake laughed to herself at the blush that Yang could feel burning her cheeks to ash. Technically only figuratively - but the very real burning feeling in them made Yang almost believe otherwise.

They all took a seat, Blake and Weiss each went first in the booths, then Ruby and Yang followed. Ruby snuggled into Weiss's side, the heiress looked caught of guard and slightly exasperated, but with a roll of her eyes, she let it go.

Yang could see Weiss purposefully divert her eyes from Blake.

"So..." Ruby said, looking between Blake and Yang, tapping her free hand against the table.

"Right, umm... sorry about earlier Rubes, I wanted to explain why I said what I said, but..." The blonde gestured to Weiss not-so discretely. Ruby looked tense. 'Uh oh...'

"That's the reason I asked her to come, whatever problems you have with her, or with us, you should say to our faces."

'Fuck.' Nervously, Yang looked between the two, Weiss gave a small nod of affirmation, looking tense herself.

"Well, umm..." Yang cleared her throat, counting that as the third time she has said 'umm' so far. "For one; she's... you're a Schnee."

"No kidding." Weiss muttered sarcastically. Blake wrapped an arm around Yang in comfort, letting the older sister take a deep breath and continue on.

"You're family is racist, you couldn't even talk to my son when you met him, your father branded his illegitimate child and sent him off to become an angry serial killer, you insulted the house that has been in mine and Ruby's family for 400 years, you flaunt your Lien, I have never seen you treat Ruby like a person even worth your time, you're rude, condescending, and I also have never once thought that you were worth Ruby."

Weiss simply nodded, while Ruby's eyes went wide.

...

The silence was so thick, it could have been cut with a butter knife and spread on bread.

"You would blame her... for her upbringing? For her father's deeds? For things she is trying to cope with?" Ruby's voice sounded weak with hurt and pain. "Do you have any idea how much resistance she has faced from her family  _because of this relationship_?! Do you know how many faunus shelters she has visited because she wanted to deal with the ideals that were drilled into he since birth?!" The young girl exclaimed, and Yang tried to interject, wanting to Ruby that she didn't know - that Ruby never told her, but the now infuriated Ruby Rose just kept going, "Do you understand how much pain her father put her through?! Do you get that, that 'illegitimate child' was her half brother, and she went through hell because of the grief that she wasn't even allowed to feel?! Do you know where that scar came from?! Why are you judging her for things that you don't even know about?!"

Yang slammed a fist on the table. "What did you think I would judge her for?! Her constant wearing of white clothes? Her family is bad blood, they have been cruel overlords for longer than either of us, or our parents have been alive!"

"Stop doing that! Stop putting her in the same category as her father!"

"She goes in that category! She is a Schnee!"

"Names don't define you!"

"But your actions do, and Weiss has only been hateful!"


	7. Never be Forgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read at your own peril, there is some TRIGGER WARNING, so if you are triggered by flashbacks, violence, or verbal abuse; I wouldn't read anything in italics in this chapter. Kudos and comments are both very much wanted. Please ENJOY

"She is trying! But it's not like you ever gave her a chance!"

"She's not worth giving a chance!"

"Why? Why do you have to believe that about her?!" Ruby practically sobbed out.

Ruby's sobbing made Yang stop for a second. The first thing that came to mind to say was; 'because she's a Schnee', and even Yang, as infuriated as she was, knew that was ridiculous. She knew she said it before, she could her voice a mere moment before calling out those words. And that hurt for multiple reasons. It something she has preached against all her life; judging someone by their family. Now she could finally see a sliver of that in herself, what was she doing? Why was she acting this - no one deserved to be treated this way. It was like a stab to Yang's heart to know it took her sister crying to realize what she was doing.

Ruby took Yang's silence to continue, "Why don't you trust  _me_? Why do you think I would date her; if I felt she would never get better. If Weiss hadn't shown me several times that she wanted to change her viewpoints, I would have dumped her that night... no one treats my nephew that way on purpose, or without guilt. But she  _was_  guilty, she was so mad at herself for not being able to get her childhood teachings out of her head, the  _entire night_. You don't have to like her Yang, you don't have to trust her; but trust  _me -_  please." A tear slipped onto Ruby's cheek, where it made a slow trail down her face.

Yang was frozen with shock, but a hot tear of her own made it's way to her chin, and her eyes focused in on Ruby's pleading ones. Yang stepped around the table, and pulled Ruby into a hug.

"I do trust you, I do... it's just..."

***Flashback***

_Junior grabbed his keys and was trying to make his way out the door, but Yang grabbed his arm._

_"Stop please! We already barely have enough money for food, don't go and spend that little bit too!" She pleaded, hoping he would give in this one time._

_But Junior ripped Yang's hand off of his arm, then grabbed her by the collar and threw her against the counter a few feet away. Her sore body screamed in protest as more pain and bruises were layered onto her._

_"You don't tell me what to do, you stupid little bitch! I bring the money in, I can do with it what I want!" He took a few steps forward, raising his fist to come down on Yang's head. But the pain fueled her Semblance, turning her eyes red, and allowing her to grab the hand before it hit her. But she still wasn't strong enough, and her aura was fading fast with the effort to keep her Semblance going, so when Junior sent his other fist flying at her; she could do nothing to stop it. The force of the hit broke her aura completely, and sent her slamming into a wall. With zero protection; it hurt like hell, and made Yang's head swim._

_"You aren't worth the rotten bread I feed you blondy. No one will ever love you, the sooner you learn that, the sooner you can hit the clubs and use those tits of yours to earn a few bucks... maybe even earn the roof I put over your head." Junior strode over to where Yang was, and stomped hard on her leg, she screamed out in pain as a loud snap resounded in the room._

_He left, and Yang lay on the floor, sobbing for hours after that._

***End of flashback***

Ruby understood perfectly, as she watched the tears escape Yang's broken looking, lilac eyes. There are some pains that you just can't forget, and the pain that was constant for Yang for two years, would never be forgotten by anyone who knew Yang at the time.

"I know - and I'm sorry for getting so angry, I know you're just trying to protect me, I just wish none of that happened to you..." The sisters tightened their embrace, more than willing to build their relationship back up in a matter of moments. As for Yang's relationship with Weiss...

The heiress stepped forward, putting her hand out.

"I fear we have gotten off on the wrong foot. Hello, my name is Weiss Schnee. I am dating your younger sister, Ruby. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

With a tiny smile, Yang pulled away and grasped Weiss's hand. "Yang Xiao Long, as you said, I'm Ruby's older sister. It will be - nice to get to know you." They shook hands, then stepped quickly away from each other. Ruby beamed at her girlfriend, but before she hug-pummeled her; Weiss did something that would surprise them all.

She turned to Blake, who had just risen from her seat.

"It is also good to - meet you... Blake Belladonna." Weiss choked out, trying to look sincere, but coming across as tense and forced. Blake looked moved by the attempt though, a smile spreading across her face.

"Same to you Miss Schnee... same to you."

The conversation might have gone on, but Ruby launched herself at Weiss in pride, wrapping her arms and legs around the pale form of Weiss, yelling loudly, "WEISS YOU ARE AMAZING!"

"RUBY! GET OFF OF ME, WE ARE IN A CAFE!"

"I LOVE YOU!"

"DOLT! COULDN'T YOU HAVE WAITED TO SAY THAT TILL WE WERE IN THE CAR?!" Weiss's loud words contradicted her soft blush, and the hand that was actually supporting Ruby, and holding the red-head against her.

Yang and Blake said their good byes, and left the cafe.

The drive back to Blake's house was quiet, but a comfortable quiet, one where they both were submerged in their own thoughts. When they got there; Yang walked Blake up to the door, gave the ebony-haired woman a kiss on the cheek, and drove home.

It wasn't until she paid Coco for watching Adrian, checked on him to make sure he was sleeping soundly, and hit the pillow of her bed; did Yang cry. She cried for all of the stress, and she cried for the memories that had resurfaced, but she also cried for one more reason: she wanted to date Blake, she knew that now, but...

_'You disgusting dyke! You will never kiss a girl again, you hear me?! Never! No one will ever love you anyway, you're worthless, and disgusting, so don't even try. The second they find out that I'm here; they'll run, tails between their legs, mark my words. You. Are. Nothing!'_

How could she - when his voice was still ringing in her ears. Even louder now than before. He'd kill Blake, he'd find out somehow and kill her. Yang could never love again, Junior had made sure of that.


	8. Looking Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think the flashback has anything too TRIGGERING in it, but if you want to be safe; skip the part marked as the flashback. Comment and kudos still appreciated. Please ENJOY

Blake sat behind her desk, sipping her black tea, and doing some paperwork, until Lily walked into the room.

"Sorry for interrupting, but because your phone line is down, a Miss Schnee left a message for me to give you." Lily placed the message she had written down on a slip of paper.

Blake picked it up, and read the neatly written words.

_'Yang, for reasons unknown, has made it clear she will not invite you to dinner at 7:00 tonight. It's a small gathering, just Yang, Ruby, me, and you if you'd come. My number is below, if you would indeed come, please text me and I will give you the address._

_828-723-8476_ **(I made this number up, just to let you know is case the most freaky thing happens, and it is someone's number out there. Just let me know if it is, and I'll change it)** _'_

Blake sent a text saying she will come to that number, and went back to work. Not five minutes later did she receive an address.

Blake's day went slower than usual, a thousand questions racing through her head about that night. 'Why wouldn't Yang invite me?' 'What should I wear?' 'How formal will it be?' 'Will Yang be angry that I was invited?' The questions didn't end until all the children were picked up, where Blake saw Yang rushing Adrian away from his friends and out the door.

She got home, usually Blake would have stayed at the Kindergarten until 5:00, but this time she was anxious to pick out her outfit and perfect her look for the night. Blake was never the conscientious type about how she looked, but she always liked to make sure that her clothes were the best she had for that situation... and it would be hard to find he best one for this particular 'small gathering'.

The hours ticked by while Blake got ready, showering, finding the best outfit (including shoes and jewelry), getting dressed, doing her hair, and her tiny amount of make-up. The finished product was a sleek black v-neck that came down mid-chest, boot-cut jeans, brown gladiator sandals, a pearl necklace, some blush and black eyeliner, and her hair laying down her back naturally. It was 6:00 when she finished, and Blake sat down on her couch to read... only to be unable to concentrate on any of the words. Her mind wandered.

***Flashback***

_Blake and Ilia stood, holding hands, on the beach._

_"I don't know if I can do it." The chameleon faunus said, her eyes staying on the distant horizon. Blake's heart clenched a little._

_"If you don't... you know I can't. And I need to Ilia. I need this."_

_Ilia sighed, retracting her hand from Blake's so she could wring it with her other. _"I do, I know. That's why this is so hard... I'm not ready to come out Blake. I get that you are, but I'm not. So..." A tear slid down the girl's cheek. "I-i guess I'm saying the promise means nothing anymore."__

__Blake stayed silent, her own tears falling as this information settled in. The promise. Because Ilia and Blake had started secretly dating, they both promised they would come out at the same time, so that they could also tell their parents who they were dating. But if Ilia was nullifying that promise; it meant that Blake would just tell her parents that she wasn't dating anyone... because it would be true._ _

__"I love you." Was all the cat faunus could think to say._ _

__"I love you too." Ilia left Blake on the beach, her fear driving her away from her first love._ _

***End of flashback***

It was 6:25, so Blake walked out the door, her mind still partially back at the beach. The drive wasn't long, and she ended up arriving at 6:50. The address led her to a really nice looking apartment complex, with evergreens, and flowers planted in front of the towering buildings.

Blake waited till it was 7 o'clock, then got out of her car.

She went up stairs to the door with number 113 next to it... this was it. Here was the door Blake was supposed to knock on, and enter. She rapped lightly on the door, she waited for a moment before she heard heels clicking on a hardwood floor. Weiss opened the door, and stepped to the side wordlessly to let Blake in.

Ruby came from a small kitchen to the left.

"Hey Blake! Welcome to my humble abode!" The cute red-head gave a dramatic bow. She was wearing a flowery apron, and had a chef's hat - that was now laying on the floor because of her bow. Blake chuckled while Ruby scrambled to pick it back up.

"Hey Ruby, where's Yang?"

"Fashionably late as always." Weiss answered, balancing the hat back on Ruby's head, and kissing her cheek. A knock on the door ruined Ruby's and Weiss's moment, also making Blake jump, and rush to sit on the yellow fabric couch.

Once again Weiss opened the door, and stepped silently aside to allow Yang entrance. At first the blonde held a smile on her face when she saw Ruby, but that abruptly fell away when she saw Blake sitting awkwardly on the edge of the couch cushion. Blake hopped up, not knowing what else to do as Yang first looked at Ruby, then at Weiss after Ruby pointed to her girlfriend.

Finally, Yang turned to Blake with a tense smile.

"You look great in..." It was only after Blake said these words that she realized Yang was wearing a black AchieveMen shirt with jeans and boots. Blake also wanted to kill herself as Yang's eyebrow went up. "That shirt, on most people it would look casual, but you pull it off very well." 'Great save Blake, it's so great it almost sounds like you're calling her casual.' But the whole situation got worse when Yang looked down at her shirt, causing Blake to follow her gaze. It was one of those shirts that only go halfway down your abdomen... revealing Yang's six pack. Why Yang was wearing that at a gathering with her sister and her girlfriend, no one would ever know - but Blake felt herself blush; she hadn't blushed in year's.

Yang couldn't hold back the laughter anymore as her face turned red.

Yang's laughter was musical, and infectious as Blake herself couldn't help but laugh a little at her own mistake (though Yang's six pack definitely did not take away from how good Yang looked). When Yang stopped laughing, she looked up and gave Blake a smile, a genuine smile.

The rest of the night was without incident, the salmon and potatoes were delicious, the game of  _Uno_  went well with Weiss then Yang being the shrewd winners. It seemed to end all too soon for Blake, who was laughing with everyone else the entire time. But it did, and Blake and Yang took their leave at the same time, Weiss deciding to stay behind for whatever reason.

They walked silently side-by-side until they got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Blake..." Yang's lilac eyes met Blake's amber ones. She didn't finish what she wanted to say, instead Yang leaned in, pressing her lips gently to Blake's. The faunus cupped Yang's cheek, pulling her closer. It was electrical, sending warmth throughout Blake, and making her heart race with unnatural speed. But Yang pulled away, a weird look in her eye, she turned and jogged away. 'Sorry' was the only thing Yang said before she jumped into her van and drove off.

Blake was too shocked to do anything, process anything, but smile. Blake smiled until she got home, when the shock and happiness subsided enough for her to realize that Yang had said 'sorry' and ran away. It made the ending of the night slightly bitter, but Blake found herself confident that she could talk to Yang about whatever happened... and maybe get the blonde on a date.

The last thing Blake did before going to sleep was sending Yang a text.

_"Sleep well, and sweet dreams, Yang."_

_..._

Ruby got a call from Yang while Weiss was doing the dishes.

"Ruby! Ruby! Adrian, he's missing!"

"Yang please, calm down!" Panic spread through Ruby's body, but she forced herself to stay calm. "What happened?!" Sobs came from the other end, proving what Ruby knew; Yang couldn't calm down.

"C-coco was watching him... and then -  _he_  broke in. He knocked her out, Ruby! He knocked Coco out and took my little boy!"

Ice ran through Ruby's veins,  _him._

"Who Yang?" Ruby knew who, but she needed to make sure.

_"Junior."_

 


	9. All Hell Breaks Loose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a short chapter to be a bit of a break before we move on to the next part of the story. Please ENJOY

The police swarmed Yang house, searching for evidence, for anything to point to the person who did this. But Yang knew, she knew who it was... Junior. He took Adrian. Yang knew it, he found out that Yang had kissed Blake and then went after Adrian to get to her. Her little boy, her son. He was just getting better at reading, he was about to get tested for dyslexia, they were going to help him. But now he's gone, taken to have his life ruined the same way Yang's was. A cruel mother-to-son cycle that Junior has started.

She felt her Semblance burning, she knew her eyes were red, and with all of her training; she knew she could - and would kill Junior for doing this.

A police officer blatantly avoided walking on the same side of the room as her when he was passing through. Yang didn't care, she just wanted Adrian back, more than anything in the world. 'It's your fault, if you hadn't given in and kissed Blake... he would still be here.'

"Fuck!" She yelled involuntarily, punching the wall next to her. An officer picked the wrong time to gain courage and move forward.

"Miss Xiao Long, the police down in downtown Vale raided Junior's house, he was - in bed with his girlfriend. From what the officers saw, he has an airtight alibi for the crime of kidnapping your son."

Yang's Semblance raged up into the fire, and she shook her head slowly.

Ruby rushed forward from somewhere nearby. "Yang... it's true. Weiss and I, we wanted to come and see first hand, and we did. On top of seeing some... things, we watched the security footage of the past four hours that night, it wasn't tampered with. He didn't take Adrian, Yang."

Something crucial broke in Yang, and tears started flowing, without control, down her face. Ruby caught her older sister when her knees buckled out from under her. Caressing her golden locks while holding her close.

'It was Junior, it has to be Junior! Who else would take my son? It has to be Junior, he sent someone to kidnap him. It has to be him! It's all my fault...'

...

Weiss stood paralyzed as she watched Yang sob uncontrollably into Ruby's shoulder, her body trembling... thank god the officers had some sense to leave the house and give them privacy. Her own memories of being reduced to tears ran rampant in her mind making it hard to think. Weiss noticed someone step next to her, and she looked over to see Blake. Every time the heiress sees her, the first thing she sees are the cat ears, but this time; Weiss forced herself to push away the prejudice. The faunus's ears flattened against her head when she saw Yang, and her fists clenched by her side.

"I wouldn't go near until she calms down, her Semblance could reactivate at any moment." She says, and Weiss can hear what must sound like indifference to Blake; Ruby's the only one who's ever been able to tell when Weiss is upset.

"Do the police have any leads?"

Weiss turns to her, and shakes her head no. "Ruby and I were there when the house of the only suspect was raided, but no evidence was found,  _and_  he had an airtight alibi."

"He?"

Somehow Weiss is surprised that Yang has never mentioned Junior to Blake, she'd have known who 'he' was by the circumstances if Yang had, but they've always come across as really close.

"An ex of Yang's, from what I've heard from Ruby though, it was good riddance when they broke up." Weiss remembered what Ruby had said to her on their way to Junior's house,  _'Junior was the worst kind-of cruel to Yang, not only using physical torture, but mental. He would tell her that she was nothing, worthless, that no one would love her because she was filthy. It took her adopting Adrian for him to decide to leave Yang. She didn't even get the pleasure of kicking him out, she was weaker then, so every time she tried he would just beat the shit out of her. Her very aura was almost constantly broken... I wouldn't be surprised if he decided he wanted her back and stole Adrian to get to her.'_

"I see." Blake said quietly, and Weiss looked over to watch long enough to see Blake pull out a scroll and dial a number, before she looked back at Yang and Ruby. Ruby the sweet girl who never gave up on her, the only who seemed to understand the Schnee, and didn't fear Weiss because of her family's power or even want to use her for it.

...

Ruby can feel Yang's hot tears soak through her shirt, and she hates it, not the tears but the fact that Yang has to spill any. She hates Junior for what he did, especially making Yang cut Ruby out of her life the last year Yang was with him, but this is something Ruby just can't blame him for when no proof has been found. She will though, do whatever it takes to get Adrian back. Nothing can stop her.

"Yang..."

Ruby feels Yang stiffen in her arms, and looks up to see Blake standing there, a soft, caring look in her eyes. She got down on her knees, and placed a hand on Yang's shoulder. Yang doesn't relax, if anything she becomes more tense.

Ruby feels Yang stiffen in her arms, and looks up to see Blake standing there, a soft, caring look in her eyes. She got down on her knees, and placed a hand on Yang's shoulder. Yang doesn't relax, if anything she becomes more tense.

"Blake, how about you talk to Yang later?" Weiss said in a voice Ruby recognized to be a faked calm. Yang started to pull away from Ruby however, and stood in front of Blake. The faunus woman hurriedly straightened up as well, and Ruby felt it would be unwise of her to not do the same.

"Blake..." Yang's voice was hoarse, rough, and deathly quiet. She cleared her throat. "You shouldn't be here."

"Yes I should."

"No, Blake - you shouldn't. Go."

"No, Yang..."

"Go!"

An officer decided now was the time to barge in - which it really wasn't.

"Yang, please. Don't push me away!"

"Umm, Miss Xiao Long?" The middle aged man said uncertainty, but Yang didn't hear.

"Just go Blake, there's no reason for you to stay!"

"Yes there is!"

"Miss Xiao Long?" The officer repeated, attempting to be a little louder this time.

"No! You were his Principal, you barely knew Adrian! And you definitely don't know me!"

Ruby was torn between many things, siding with Yang, siding with Blake (because of the hurt look on the woman's face), siding with the poor man who was just trying to deliver a message, or bury her head in Weiss's neck and forget about all of this.

"Miss Xiao Long!" The officer practically yelled, but it was no use, Yang and Blake's attention were only on their argument. Ruby considered asking him 'what?', but she didn't want to move away in case in Yang's fragile state things became physical.

"You're right, I don't really know you. But I you know enough. You have been hurt, and abused, and Adrian was the one thing that was able to end all of that. I get it! He's more important to you than your own life, but why do you have to push love out to love him?!"

"I'm not pushing love out! I'm just letting you know, you never had a chance!"

The three onlookers had already felt very out of place amidst the yelling would-be-lovers, but now that was on a whole new level. Each of them looked away, unable to bear the look of pain on Blake's face, and their guilt for standing there to witness it.

"Then why did you kiss me?" Her voice was a sob, and Ruby could see Weiss almost get whiplash because she looked up so fast, in utter horror. The red-head felt sick to her stomach. She had no idea what to think; did Yang accidentally kiss Blake? Was she so caught up in the moment that she didn't realize what she was doing till it was too late? Or did she mean to kiss Blake - and either find out that lesbianism wasn't for her - or Yang has become so scared of Junior that she would push Blake out because of that fear?

"Because, in a lapse of judgement, I did something idiotic. And I regret it." Yang's voice held nothing in it, no emotions of any kind. Blake just shook for a moment, a couple of tears made their way down her face before she turned on her heels, walked past the stunned officer, and out the door.

It was dead silent until a moment later the officer took a step forward and cleared his throat.

"Miss Xiao Long, your son has been found."

'Oh holy hell...'

**(Later at the police station)**

Ruby and Weiss sat in front of an officer who was going to tell them what happened, while Yang was too busy sticking like glue to Adrian's side to pay attention.

"So it turns out it was a robbery, or at least that's what we're guessing, we'll need Miss Xiao Long to check on that. Anyways, the man broke in, and knocked Coco out to get to the goods he perceived would be upstairs. Adrian said he heard the commotion, so he climbed out of his window in an attempt at running to the police station and getting help. But he got lost in the dark, and slept in the park last night, when he woke up; he walked the three miles to get right here at the police station."

Ruby and Weiss sat in awe at the story; which was not the one they were expecting. Ruby broke out into a grin.

"Heh, that's my nephew for you, brave and strong-willed." Then she sighed in weary, laying her head on Weiss's shoulder; it was hard to do anything at the moment, even smile.

All she could think about was Yang; the way she was acting. All the evidence pointed out that, there was something Ruby didn't know. That Yang was terrified of Junior. And that Adrian, meant more to her than anything... or anyone else. All hell broke loose when Yang thought Adrian was kidnapped, and all hell is still broken loose, just inside of Ruby. Maybe inside of Yang. Most likely inside of Weiss. And definitely inside of Blake.

Blake, the poor girl Yang destroyed in two minutes flat, without even blinking. And Weiss even felt sorry for the faunus, which was a huge step for the heiress, but also a clear sign of just how bad Blake was hurt.

'All hell broke loose' really is the perfect phrase for what happened and all the consequences proceeding.

'I wish I could go back in time and kill Junior, then none of this would have happened.' Was the last thing Ruby thought before falling asleep on Weiss in the police station.


	10. What The...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here tis Adrian! First person POV. Comments and kudos would make me happy. Please ENJOY

* * *

Something is off about Yangy, she looks sad all the time, but she still puts up a happy mask. I think she does it for me, like she did when the bad man used to live with us and he would hit her. I know she's avoiding Miss Belladonna though, because Yangy used to talk about her, and talk to her - but now Yangy won't even walk in to my school. Half the time she doesn't come to pick me up or drop me off, instead I see a lot more of Aunt Ruby and her girlfriend, Miss Weiss. Yesterday I even got to hang out with Sun! He took me to the park, and I played tag with another boy.

I can tell it's hurting Miss Belladonna too, she stays in her office most of the time instead of coming out to play with us occasionally, and when she does come out; her eyes are usually red and puffy looking. She also has trouble smiling. Whenever she smiles it looks like someone is grabbing the corners of her mouth and pulling them up, it's kinda creepy actually... I miss the warm smile and hugs.

It's been a week since my 'heroic act' as Yangy keeps calling it (even though I never did anything 'heroic'), time hasn't flown by. This week has been one of the slowest weeks in my life, except for all those weeks at the orphanage. Now all those weeks were  _definitely_  the slowest.

One time I heard Miss Weiss and Aunt Ruby doing what Aunt Ruby called 'arguing', I really don't get that though, when I argue with one of the kids in recess; we start yelling at each other. But when they argue; Aunt Ruby uses puppy dog eyes and whines, while Miss Weiss just speaks calmly and sternly. Oh well, they were 'arguing' about Yangy and Miss Belladonna. Miss Weiss wants to - what was that - 'let them have space', while Aunt Ruby wants to 'just nudge them together a little'. I don't know what either of those things mean, but I know whichever will make Yangy and Miss Belladonna happy again is what I want.

Reading is harder this week too, Miss Belladonna usually helps me with that, but now she stays in her office so Mr Neptune has to help me. It gets so confusing! I try and I try, but I just end up with a headache, and a heartache for Miss Belladonna to help me. Mr Neptune is Ok at it, but he doesn't seem to understand what I don't understand, so we both end the 'tutoring session' with not understanding. I wonder what 'tutoring' is anyway, is it teaching or learning?

I want everything to go back to normal! I want to hang out with Miss Coco, and Mr Yatsuhashi when he comes over too! My friend, Arnold Arc, thinks that I should make them talk to each other. Set something up so that Yangy and Miss Belladonna have to talk, he says that it is in the entire class's interest for everything to get back to normal; because Miss Belladonna also hands out extra snacks. This argument has made me come to a decision; I will text Miss Belladonna from Yangy's phone. Something like 'Come meet me please', then they'll meet!

I grab a piece of paper from my drawer and take it to the dining room table with a pencil.

 _'Come met me pleas'_ I write out. My plan is now a 'go'... whatever that means. But my plan is in action! I just need to bring my paper when I go to type out the text, so I can remember how to spell it.

Yangy walks in.

"Hey buddy, whatcha doing?"

I flip the paper over and start drawing. "Drawing."

"Cool, you want a snack? I know I want one!"

I nod, a snack actually sounds good right now... err 'right about now'? I don't know, but I'm pretty sure they both mean the same thing. Adults say too many new things for me to keep up.

She makes us each a half peanut butter and jelly sandwich, walking away with her own. I watch her leave the room and take a big bite out of my sandwich. I'm nervous, what if Yangy figures out that I sent the message somehow?! I don't know how she would, but there's always that - possibility - yeah that possibility. Let's just hope nothing goes south. Is north the right way for it to go? Or should it not go anywhere? And who is hoping with me? Ugh! I just want nothing to go wrong!

 


	11. What The...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, anything marked 'Flashback' has a high likely hood to be TRIGGERING. Please ENJOY

Yang woke up, stretching, and blinking at the sunlight spilling in from her bedroom window. Groggily, she sat up and grabbed her scroll off of her bedside table...

"What the...?" She said staring at the message none other than Blake Belladonna sent her - and then message before that. "Adrian!"

Yang leaped out of bed, throwing her covers off, and racing to her son's room. When she entered, he was sleeping peacefully, it was the weekend after all. She almost couldn't bring herself to wake him, then she did wake him, and when she did; she asked in the kindest voice she could muster at the moment... "Adrian, what is this?"

The sleepy faunus boy saw the message, then proceed to shrink into his covers.

"Adrian..." Yang has never been able to stay angry at him for long, so the little anger that hadn't dissipated at Adrian's obvious guilt; was in her voice when she spoke.

"I'm sorry! I just heard Aunt Ruby and Miss Weiss arguing once about you and Miss Belladonna, so it got me worried because both of you have been sad lately. I just wanted to help by getting you guys to meet up." He spoke quietly and apologetically, rubbing his grimm themed cover in between his fingers. Yang sighed deeply, looking first at her son's badly written message, then her eyes flicked to Blake's very worried response.

_"Yang? Are you Ok? What's going on?"_

"Buddy, I appreciate what you were trying to do, but you made Miss Belladonna very worried."

"I'm sorry..."

"I know." Yang laid an arm over Adrian's side, giving him a sideways hug.

'Fuck... how are we going to sort this mess out? I don't know if I can handle seeing her again.' Yang knew there was no way around her going to actually meet Blake, Adrian had to apologize, and it wouldn't be right for Yang to  _not_  be there. Considering Adrian is her son.

'You're just saying that so you can see Blake again. What about Adrian?! Haven't you learned your lesson from last time?!' The blonde shook those thoughts away, she can't deal with all of that internal turmoil right now.

"Alright, I'm going to go make breakfast, you want to stay in bed until it's done?"

He nodded slowly. "Am I going to have to tell Miss Belladonna I'm sorry?"

Yang stood, letting out another sigh, "Yeah, sometime today."

While Yang went down the stairs, she thought up something to say to Blake.

_"It was Adrian, he grabbed my phone and sent that to u without me knowing. We'll be over there around lunch so he can apologize face-to-face."_

She sighed once again, walking into the kitchen and starting to grab the ingredients for pancakes.  _Buzz..._  Yang looked down at her scroll.

_"I'm glad you're Ok. I'll see the both of you then."_

**(At lunch)**

Yang drove her and Adrian over to Blake's nervously. It almost annoyed her that she knew the way to her house by heart even though she has only driven there twice.

They pulled into the driveway, Yang parked right behind Blake's black sedan, hopped out of her car, and then opened Adrian's door for him. Once they got to the white door; it opened. Blake stood there, looking gorgeous as always, not even the painfully obvious swollenness of her eyes could detract from the faunus's natural beauty.

"Come in." She bade quietly, stepping to the side, and keeping her eyes to the floor. Adrian bounded in, running straight to the couch and plopping down on it. Yang couldn't help but wait for a moment, looking at Blake with guilt clamping down on her heart and stomach.

Blake looked up for a fraction of a second, a watery smile playing on her lips. "I guess some things never change."

Yang immediately realized what she had done, and practically threw herself through the door. 'Why the hell do I do that every single time I'm outside of a door Blake's on the other side of?! I'm such an idiot...'

Solemnly, Blake walked past Yang, and stood in front of her fireplace; which was to Yang's left, and right in front of Adrian.

"I'm sorry Miss Belladonna, I didn't mean to make you worry, and I shouldn't have sent that message." The little boy announced, looking Blake in her amber eyes. A smile took place on her mouth, and Blake walked forward, kneeling in front of him.

"Do you know what made me worried?" Adrian shook his head no. "I was worried because Yang knows how to spell all of her words, so when I saw 'please' without the 'e' and 'meet' without one of it's 'e's; it made me worry that Yangy was sick. Do you remember the rule for 'please'?"

Adrian thought for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah."

"Do you remember how to spell your words for last week?" She asked him and he thought about it, then nodded, smiling even wider. Blake continued, "If I get you some paper and a pencil, will you write them out for me?"

"Yes, Miss Belladonna."

Blake smiled again, and grabbed the supplies from her desk across the room. She placed them on her kitchen island/table, and motioned for Adrian to come over. She helped him onto the stool, asked if he needed anything, then sat down at the opposite side of the couch Yang was standing next to. The blonde sat where Adrian had been sitting previously, on the far right side of the couch.

While they waited, Yang's mind swam with images of that day, that horrible day.

Adrian finished, proudly showing his paper to Blake. She gently gave him a couple of reminders, and he worked studiously to fix the mistakes. When Blake found that every answer was correct; Adrian grinned wider than ever before, looking like nothing could make him happier than hearing that he did well.

They probably would have left then, but Adrian caught sight of a swing set in Blake's backyard. He instantly looked up to Yang.

"Ask Miss Belladonna."

The ram faunus turned to Blake, his eyes pleading permission.

"You can go play." The raven-haired woman conceded. With a rushed 'thank you', Adrian raced out of the backdoor and to the swing.

Yang and Blake sat in silence, while more images swarmed the trainer's mind. The look of pain on Blake's face, the tears, Ruby holding her, the feeling of blank darkness filling her, the silent plea for Yang to take back what she said to Blake. Those scenes played over and over, while guilt ate Yang from the inside out. Guilt for saying what she had to Blake, and guilt for ever letting their relationship get that far. The cycle was sickening, and there was nothing Yang wanted more than to end it.

'I guess you have a decision to make then...'

"I'm sorry." She said, and the words make her realize how much she didn't mean what she said to Blake that day - which added to the anger she already felt towards herself. "I'm sorry because... if I didn't have my background; I would let myself love you. I'm sorry because for a moment, even I believed my past wouldn't catch up with me. I'm sorry because you did have a chance. And I'm sorry because I hurt you, that never should have happened, I never should've let that happen. I have guilt for a thousand different things, but hurting you was never supposed to be one of them. I am sorry..." A couple tears trickled down Yang's face at all the memories, not just of that day when she thought Adrian was kidnapped, but also further back, as far back as when she was with Junior. And into the beginning of that relationship where she had her first kiss with a girl. So many memories, so many emotions... most of them bad. Blake stood, and did the one thing Yang did not anticipate her doing; she pulled Yang onto her feet, and gave her a hug. Instinctively, Yang hugged Blake back.

"You don't have to be afraid, Yang Xiao Long, you have so many people who love you, who care about you - and whether you like it or not - I'm among that group. Let us help you..."

"No! There's nothing to help." Yang resisted, wanting to apologize, wanting to give in, but the memories flooding her senses and her mind stopped her.

Blake wouldn't let Yang pull away. "Yes Yang, there is. No one has to be taught love, you know the feeling Yang. You're just running away from it, away from me!"

Yang tried pulling away again, and succeeded, only to fall. Her heart was racing, her mind was replaying the worst moments of her life.

'Stop! Nononono... don't do this now... no!'

_'No one will ever fucking love you! You are a miserable wretch. You're worthless. You're going to hell you stupid dyke!'_  And then the worst flashes that could come.  _'You see that Yang? You see that?! You see your pretty little fling hanging from the ceiling?!'_  Hanging from the ceiling... no...

***Flashback***

_Junior dragged Yang into a house, Yang didn't know where she was, all she could do was hope Junior wasn't about to murder her. A plead to the Gods that he didn't touch..._

_Junior ripped off Yang's blindfold, and she screamed. Emerald, the girl Yang found herself loving, was hanging from her living room ceiling; bloody gore spilling out from her torso and her limbs tied at odd angles to her body._

_"You see that Yang? You see that?! You see your pretty little fling hanging from the ceiling?!" Junior shoved Yang, where she stumbled and landed on the floor, screaming and crying. Two henchmen walked forward, not expecting what no one expected. Yang's Semblance roared to life, fire, flames, and sparks flying everywhere. Her eyes blood red, and her fists clenched. Yang was shaking, the sheer power of that anger, that pain, coursing through her. They charged. That was the worst mistake they could have made. Yang destroyed those two men with a more brutal death than even poor Emerald received. Punch after punch, she continued punching even after they were dead, pulverizing their bodies till each and every bone was broken. When Yang finally stopped; it was because her Semblance burnt out. Leaving only the cruel pain behind._

***End of flashback***

When Yang finally came to her senses, and was able to see and feel what was happening. She heard whispers in her ear.

"It's going to be Ok, it's going to be Ok."

And a body pressed against hers. A hand, running itself through her hair.

All of these sensations came from Blake.

Yang hadn't had a flashback that bad since the following months of Emerald's murder. And the few weeks after she got away from Junior. She was shaking, Yang knew she needed to eat something, even if she might feel nauseous at the thought.

"I-i'm O-ok now, j-just give m-me a minute t-to regain my s-strength." Yang gasped out, trying to stand. Blake stood, and held Yang on the couch where she collapsed.

"Yang, rest."

"But..." Yang glanced out the window to see Adrian.

"He's fine, he's been playing out there the whole time." Blake took a long look at Yang, who was sitting resignedly on the couch. "This has happened before, hasn't it?"

She nodded, and Blake sighed, "What do you need? Anything I can get for you?"

Lilac eyes met amber one's, and Yang could see the determination there.

"Something light to eat, nothing much, just enough to make the shaking go away."

The cat faunus walked off to her kitchen, and Yang sat. Something felt lighter, and something else darker. Like a part of her was relieved, while the rest was weighed down by some cumbersome discovery.

Blake came back, a plate of apple slices in hand. Yang took it gratefully, and bit half of a slice off, chewing slowly. Blake sat and watched.

"Is my eating  _that_  interesting?" The blonde teased, trying to get the attention off of her. Blake chuckled softly.

"No, I was just thinking."

"Gee, thanks."

"What? Do you want your eating to be interesting?"

"No, what were you thinking about?" Yang asked hurriedly.

"The name you were saying - Emerald. If I may ask; who was she?"

"U-umm, she was my first... everything. I met her before Junior decided I was to date him, both relationships went on. I never really thought of Junior as my - partner, so I also didn't consider what I was doing with Emerald cheating. He found out about it though, and killed her. Junior strung her from her living room ceiling, tied her arms and legs at twisted angles around her, and cut a deep gash from her chest down to the bottom of her torso so that blood and gore was spilling out. T-that was what my flashback was about." Yang's voice shook, even as it held a deep anger she would probably never get rid of.

"That's why your so..." Blake breathed out, horrified by the story she just heard. "Does anyone else know?"

"Two henchmen did - but they don't matter."

"Yang, I'm so sorry that happened..."

"Don't. It's not your fault. A lot of things happened to me because of that man, it's no one's fault but mine for letting him into my life, and his own fault for everything he did."

...

"Don't. It's not your fault. A lot of things happened to me because of that man, it's no one's fault but mine for letting him into my life, and his for everything he did." I can't believe my ears, I also can't believe how selfish I've been. Yang has had thousands of traumatic things happen to her, including seeing her first (and only) girlfriend strung from the ceiling and mauled. Yet, here's me, right over here. The girl who's in constant tears because Yang made an attempt at pushing me out.

How utterly horrible of me.

That settles it, there's no way, under any circumstance, am I going to let Yang go unless I'm 100 percent confident that she wants me gone. If she can last through living hell, then I can last to teach Yang how to love again. I glance in the mirror by the door; my eyes are swollen and red, I didn't even bother to put make-up on this morning. But no more tears. It's going to take an army to stop me.


	12. Expect the Unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos welcome! Please ENJOY

Blake groaned; for some reason Archie Arc has decided to become a bully of sorts. Now Blake doesn't only have to deal with a misbehaving child, but his freaking out parents. Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Arc, Mrs Arc is actually an accomplished huntress; but you wouldn't know by the way her face paled and she started rambling on... and  _on_  about how her son is 'the sweetest boy in the universe,  _really,_  I assure you!'.

Blake had, had enough. Her patience at an all-time low; Blake interrupted the half hour mark of Mrs Arc's ramblings.

"Mrs Arc, your son has been reported by several children to have called them names such as: blockhead, idiot, stupid, dummy, and a few others. In all honesty, we are not here to discuss your son's previously known character, but to figure out why he is doing what he is doing and come up with a solution. Maybe some discipline at home?" Blake felt guilt at coming across so harsh, but really, Blake never needed a lecture on the Arc mother's views of her son. Which are skewed to say the least, considering the woman spoils and coddles the poor child to death, then calls him 'perfect' when this isn't the first time Archie has misbehaved, only the first time he has tried bullying on for size. Blake does like Pyrrha though, the woman has helped her on many occasions, it's just when the topic becomes about her son...

"We do have discipline at home!" Pyrrha burst out, looking genuinely angry at the faunus woman's slightly insulting comment. Blake didn't want to say anything, as she highly doubted she would be civil if she spoke. But she was saved by the bell when Lily knocked at the office door.

"Come in." Blake said gratefully, watching the door open expectantly. Lily stood with a piece a paper in her hand.

"Miss Belladonna, I have a message for you from a Mrs Amitola." Her assistant laid the blue and white sticky note on Blake's desk, while she herself just stared at the words in shock. 'Amitola' is the only thing Blake actually read and understood; it was Ilia. 

Jaune and Pyrrha both noticed this reaction, and the latter leaned forward worriedly.

"Blake, are you Ok?" The amazon asked. Blake shook away the memories, and set the note aside. What happened, happened long ago. It almost surprised the woman how easily she could forget those old feelings of love and betrayal. But there was a task at hand, so Blake just decided to read the note and ramble a little about it to Yang later.

"Yes, sorry Mr and Mrs Arc. Mrs Amitola is an old friend of mine, from my adolescence, so to say the least it caught me off guard to hear that it was her who left me a message."

They both nodded.

**(Later that day)**

Blake marched into the cafe she was supposed to meet Yang at, and quickly spotted the blonde sitting at a booth by the windows; playing on her scroll. Blake could hear the sound of animated fighting as she turned her focus onto Yang, and moved towards her. When she got to the table, she sat down, and slammed her head into her hands.

"Woah! Blake, I didn't see you there... you Ok?"

The faunus couldn't see Yang's face, but she assumed it held a look of worry, judging by the sound of it in her voice. "No." Came her muffled response, and she could hear Yang's seat creaking slightly when she sat back... or leaned forward, one or the other.

"What happened?" A hand gently laid itself on Blake's arm.

"I argued with Pyrrha for an hour trying to solve the problem of her son being a jerk, and..."

"Could you repeat that? I can't hear you because you're covering your face."

Blake sighed, lifting her head out of her hands to gaze mournfully at Yang. Who, coincidentally, seemed like she woke up on the  _perfect_ side of the bed. She just somehow looked more beautiful right then, than at any other time. Ok, not completely true. Yang looked too gorgeous to be true no matter what, but something about her right then made Blake think she really did do something to make herself look extra-beyond-amazing. With another sigh, Blake let the horrible day she has had; slip away.

"I was saying... you're a wonderful sight for very sore eyes."

Yang's mouth twitched upwards in a pleased smile, and Blake sat up a little straighter.

"Heh, good to see you too." They both chuckled, and smiling at each other; started some small talk.

"How's Sun doing? I heard from Adrian that the two of you had a - 'trainer off', I think it was called - and he lost miserably."

"I wouldn't say 'miserably', but I did win. He twisted his ankle on the treadmill is the only reason it wasn't a tie like every other time we've held a Trainer Off."

"What's a Trainer Off?"

"It's like a 'dance off' or a 'sing off', but with trainers. Well, except we don't see who can train the best, just who can exercise the longest. But back to your question: he's doing well besides a swollen ankle."

"I see, sounds like a lot of fun."

"It is! We've been told it's also fun to watch, so maybe when the next one comes around I could invite you?"

Blake nodded, and the grin Yang has had on her face the whole conversation; grew wider.

Their conversation continued like this, gaining and losing momentum like most conversations do, and they just enjoyed each other's presences.

"Wait-wait-wait, you mean to tell me that you once had a motorcycle?!" Yang asked, tearing at the seams with laughter. Blake blushed, but attempted to do her once patented 'Hair Whip', which was really the simple flipping of her hair.

"Only the proud owner of a  _Vroom Rider_."

Yang stared blankly back at Blake, then her eyes widened, and a huge grin seemed to cover the entirety of her face. "You mean... you rode one of those little three-wheeled motorcycles?!" If the grin wasn't enough; Yang decided to guffaw as loud as possible at the look of pure horror on Blake's face.

"They are not little! And what do you know about motorcycles?!"

"I own one!" Yang continued to laugh, but her laughter had died down to a much quieter version of what she had been doing a minute before.

"You own one?"

"Yeah, my sweet baby Bumblebee. I've had her for years." The faunus's mouth fell agape, and she stared at Yang, much to to the blonde's amusement. "Maybe I could take you for a ride one day, if you want to experience a real motorcycle..."

"Hey!" She burst indignantly, slamming both of her fists down with basically zero force.

Both laughed, and their hands connected in the middle of the table. The merry music of their laughter ended almost instantaneously, but the smiles stayed, so did Yang's hand on top of Blake's.

Yang got a call, Blake didn't see who it was before she answered.

"Hello?" Yang listened intently to whatever was being said on the other line.

"Is he Ok?"

More waiting.

"He won't even watch a movie to distract himself?" Blake's interest was piqued, as was her worry.

"Ok... yeah. I'm on my way." Yang looked up and into Blake's amber eyes.

"What happened?" The ebony haired woman asked anxiously.

"Sorry, I got to go. Yatsuhashi just called and said that Adrian accidentally cut his hand while trying to cut an apple - which he decided to do without asking for permission - but he won't let either him nor Coco look at the cut." Blake stood with Yang, the warmth leaving her hand.

"Is he Ok?"

"They think so, but Yatsu thinks I should come back so I can coax him into letting us clean the cut."

The cat faunus nodded. "Can I come?"

Yang stopped in her tracks to leave the cafe, and looked at Blake.

"You really want to?"

"Yes."

"Then follow me." Yang said with a smile she couldn't hide. Blake hurried after her, and then hopped into her own car; soon pulling out of the parking lot right behind Yang's red mini van.


	13. Family Matters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the time gap, I've been a bit busy. Please comment and leave kudos. ENJOY

Blake smiles to herself while she drives back home, thinking about how adorable Yang was when she was taking care of Adrian. It showed a gentle side that Blake didn't get to see all that often; Yang was usually 'fun' and outgoing, if not a little protective.

Blake's mind traveled to her earlier conversation with Yang, then with what she refrained from telling her favorite blonde. Ilia's note. Blake pulled into her driveway, and sighing, pulled it out of her pocket.

_'Blake, please come meet me at CornerVale Cafe on Thursday, 3:45 pm. It's urgent._

_\- Mrs. Amitola'_

Thursday was tomorrow, and Blake couldn't help but feel frustrated at the lack of notice. Though - she didn't exactly know how she'd react with a bunch of time to overthink things - that's besides the point of courtesy though.

Blake made her way slowly to her front door, and opened it while still reading, and rereading the note. Something about it was bugging her, something was off, or at least unexpected. The cat faunus plopped down onto her couch, her routine long since put on the sidelines, and searched her mind for whatever the hell was wrong. It seemed normal enough; despite the 'it's urgent' and the 'Mrs Amitola'.

'Mrs Amitola' Blake reread those two words again, and something was starting to click into place. Mrs, Mrs means she's married, yet her last name isn't changed! That could mean Ilia never came out and she and her husband just decided to stick with her name... or it could mean Ilia married a woman!

'Actually...' Blake thought to herself. 'Women usually combine the two names. Or do they?' She thinks back to Jaune's sister; Saphron Cotta-Arc. Blake had met her once, and found out that Saphron (and her wife Terra) had combined their names. That was really all Blake had to go on, so with a sigh, she set the note down and decided to try and figure this out while cooking dinner.

**(Later while Blake is in bed)**

Blake came to the conclusion (for the 100th time) that she couldn't figure anything out until she talked with Ilia herself. But Blake wasn't even sure she  _wanted_  to meet Ilia yet, much less talk about the chameleon faunus's personal life.

_Buzz_

Lazily, Blake reached over a picked up her scroll. She smiled when she saw the message was from Yang.

_"R u awake?"_

_"Sadly, yes."_

_"I can't sleep either... I think it was the _caffeine in my coffee."__

__"Why would you drink coffee before you go to bed?"_ _

__"I was craving it."_ _

Blake chuckled at the careless response, and was starting to type something back when another message popped up.

_"What's ur excuse?"_

She thought out her words, typed them out, but right before she sent the message she realized that she didn't type out the real reason she couldn't sleep. So, Blake tried again.

 _"I got a note from an old friend/ex girlfriend. She wants me to meet her tomorrow at the CornerVale Cafe, at 3:45. I'm trying to decide if I want to go or not. The note said it was 'urgent', but we had a... painful falling out, so I just don't know."_ Blake waited with baited breath for Yang's response, somehow she knew whatever Yang said; would influence her decision greatly.

_"Blake, I don't know what happened, but you're strong. If you feel like you should go, then I know you can do it, and if you want me to come with you, I'll be there. If you don't want to go, then I'm right here for you. Whatever you decide, know that you call me whenever and I'll come (while being as un-intrusive as possible)."_

The ebony-haired woman couldn't help but laugh at the idea of Yang just standing outside her door for hours because she won't knock, all for the sake of not being intrusive. The blonde most likely wouldn't do that, but hey, it's still funny to think about.

_"You actually fully typed all of your words... you must be serious. I don't know that I'd call upon you though, I wouldn't want you standing outside my door for that long."_

_"Blake Belladonna! U injure me... btw 'old friend/ex girlfriend'?"_

_"Yeah, we started secretly dating, and we were going to come out together; but she wasn't ready... so we broke up so that I could come out. It's a long story, and very hard to explain."_

_"Huh, at least she let u come out... now I can have u."_

Blake's face turned a beet red, and her heart skipped a beat. Yang had never said anything like that before, and so soon after Adrian's disappearance... something urged Blake to be bold.

_"Only if I can have you."_

_"Deal ;)"_

The response from Yang came so fast Blake was startled, but when the words set in; she became very nervous, and a warm feeling set into her heart.

Their conversation pretty much ended there, besides 'good nights' and 'sleep wells'. Both of them lay in bed for a few minutes after that; thinking with a smile about their conversation, then they fell asleep and dreamed of better worlds.

**(Skipping to when Blake is leaving the Kindergarten)**

"I don't know Yang, are you sure?"

"Of course! I meant what I said last night, I have zero qualms over coming too."

Blake sighed, holding her scroll against her ear with her shoulder as she opens her car door.

"Do you know where it is?"

"Yep! I've met up with Ruby there a couple of times. Don't worry Blakey, it's going to be fine, and if it's not; I'll punch whats-her-face in the face."

Blake smiled at the redundant statement, but then frowned at the implication.

"Umm, Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't punch her." Blake heard what sounded like an 'aww' on the other side.

"Ok, fine..."

"Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome."

She turned her key in the ignition, and pulled out of the parking lot. They were both silent, the conversation had fallen into a natural, and comfortable lull. Blake takes a right onto Crimson Way Street, only to see  _tons_  of roadwork, and cars lined up; just trying to get past the traffic.

"Ugh, Yang there's tons of traffic here on Crimson Way. I might be late. Can you avoid it?"

"Yeah, thanks. Ok, I'll see you there then."

"See you." They hung up, and Blake started to get a headache. The headache only grew for the twenty minutes it took her to get out of traffic, and the next ten for her to drive the rest of the way, get a parking spot, and make her way into the nice establishment. It was brick on the outside with a deep yellow canopy, and a large neon sign which held it's name. When you enter; you are greeted with the smell of coffee, and the aesthetics of auburn booths and oaken tables.

Blake searched the tables for Yang, and found her on the far right side of the cafe - with Ilia sitting in front of her. The cat faunus speed walked over to them, stopping abruptly when she arrived.

"Oh, Blake, you're here! I was just trying to convince Ilia here that you'd arrive soon, and voila!" Suddenly Yang was out of her seat and giving Blake a strong hug, Blake hugged back, but not without confusion and hesitation. Not that she didn't like hugging Yang, she just wasn't expecting it. Blake found comfort in Yang's apparently inherent warmth, but couldn't help but look at Ilia over her shoulder. She was wearing a midnight black hoodie, and Blake suspected that the rest of her clothes were the same color. Ilia had a small smile on her lips, though it was sad.

Yang pulled away, grinning happily, but she left her hand on Blake's waist. She got into the booth first, then Blake followed. Yang seemed absolutely determined to keep her arm wrapped around Blake's waist, and her hand playing with the hem of the cat faunus's shirt. How flustered Blake was becoming because of the sudden, and now constant contact with Yang must be clear on her face; as Ilia's small smile turned into a smirk, with the added effect of an eyebrow being raised.

"So, Ilia, what'd you want to talk about?" The over-exuberant question from Yang wiped the blush off Blake's face, and the smirk off of Ilia's at the same time. Interestingly enough, they both also cleared their throats at the same time, then proceeding to lean back and rub each hand down it's respective thigh; a nervous tick they developed to signal each other that something was wrong, but never dropped because it was already a habit.

Yang noticed, but neither faunus seemed to.

"Umm, actually, it's about your family Blake. I don't know how close you guys are, but I..."

"She's fine, what is it?" Blake said, cutting Ilia off.

The freckled girl sighed deeply, running a hand across her pony tailed hair. "Ok." She whispers quietly, grabbing an unseen black backpack from under the table and placing it on the seat next to her. She slowly pulls the golden zipper to open the bag, and peers at it's contents before reaching and grabbing a small (also black) object.

She placed it on the center of the table and pressed a button unseen by both of the bumblebee pair. A black screen projected itself into the air, it had white letters that probably spelled out a document of sorts, but Blake snorted with laughter.

"What?" Ilia asked with no little amount of indignation.

"I knew you liked black, you always have, but putting your screen into 'midnight' mode?" The ebony-haired woman shook her head with a smile.

"It's a lot cooler than just a plain white background..." Ilia muttered as she scrolled the screen down. But when she met Blake's still amused gaze, her lips pulled at the edges; revealing a tiny half-smile.

Yang continued to notice these interactions, and found herself almost wanting to withdraw her arm from around Blake; there was no point now - right? They had history, and it definitely looked like Ilia wanted to rekindle that from the way she continued to look at Blake. But she kept her arm there, if Blake pushed her arm away; Yang would move it. Until then though, it was going to stay just where it was.

Ilia seemed to find what she was looking for, because she stopped scrolling.

"Alright, so I'm gonna read this to you, then you can read it for yourself. Bear in mind I have never read this before, nor have I been told about it's contents." Blake nodded, and Ilia cleared her throat. "Miss Belladonna, this document contains important information about your parents Mr and Mrs Belladonna. Prepare yourself, and if you need your reader to discontinue; simply say so." Ilia paused there, seemingly steeling herself to keep going. Blake felt her heart start pounding in her chest.

"Ghira and Kali Belladonna involved themselves with the White Fang once more. They went on a peaceful mission to speak with Jacques Schnee and ask him to change his views on their, and your, species. They wanted his help; as a huge influencer of Atlas to make that prestigious Kingdom safe for faunus to learn about advanced technology. They went with half a dozen other faunus, and made good time on the trip. Their group made it to the Schnee's doorstep, before they were attacked. Jacques Schnee refused to listen or let faunus into his house, trying to drive your parents and the other's off, not just by force and violence, but by death. Ghira and Kali had absolutely no choice but to fight back. The police arrived before more than two of the unarmed faunus's lives were taken, and the rest were driven to the station for questioning... where only more violence was used to question them." The chameleon's voice broke, and a tear slipped down her cheek. Blake just sat in shock at the story unfolding before her, Yang was in a similar state but her shock was mixed with anger.

"After the brutality, and no ill intentions were discovered from the group, they were taken to a military hospital. They are still there, their health status unknown. But from what the Atlas police has released to the Menagerie police; two more died in care. No names were given. You have been given this information so that you can know what has happened, and be warned of a likelihood that Atlas will contact you with your parents being the topic of discussion. Here you may read the document for yourself." The one tear seemed to be all the sadness Ilia felt, now it was just anger that was rushing through her veins.

Blake remained shocked, unable to process what she just heard. Yang banged her fist onto the table, absolutely  _seething_  that someone would to that. This caused Blake to jump, and Yang immediately regretted her actions; placing her hand on the shaking faunus's hand. Both Yang and Ilia watched as the information dawned on Blake, as her eyes dilated, as her shaking turned almost violent, as a turbulent mix of anger, sadness, and fear; churned in her expression and eyes.

"Blake?" The blonde tentatively said, worry laced in her voice.

"Schnee." Blake growled. And leaped out of the booth, running towards the exit.

"Blake!" Yang followed.


	14. Fighting Fire with Ice

Weiss was reading, and occasionally looking up to see what Ruby was doing in her new video game. They were both on the couch, with Ruby snuggled up into Weiss's side, and the former heiress leaning against the corner of the couch. Both of the red and white pair love this kind-of time together, each managing to engage in their own interests; while still spending time with each other. The sounds of fake fighting was a nice background, and Ruby's body heat was, well, a good source of heat to warm Weiss up. Weiss didn't have anywhere she'd rather be than with the smell of roses and the smell's respective owner.

_Buzz_

_Buzz_

Weiss grabbed her scroll, saw that the call was from Yang, and answered.

"Hello?"

"Weiss! You have an angry faunus about two minutes from arriving at your doorstep. I'd suggest running!"

"What? Why would I? And I'm at Ruby's."

"She's heading there! Blake is infuriated because  _your motherfucking father might have killed her parents!"_

Weiss froze, nothing could have prepared her for those words. "W-what? B-but... why?"

A sigh could be heard clearly on the other end. "I'm sure that's what Blake wants to know."

Weiss didn't say anything, not even to Ruby who was asking her what was wrong.

"Look Weiss, Blake should be pulling in now. Me and an old friend of her's are just a minute or two behind. Either run, or face her." Yang disconnected. Weiss didn't know what to do, she just stared into Ruby's silver eyes, which were swimming with worry. The hand that held her scroll fell to her side.

_Bang!_

A loud, single knock sounded. Ruby got up unknowingly to come face-to-face with the tear-stained, red face of Blake Belladonna. Who was also shaking from head to toes. The red-head is stunned at the sight, but when Blake asks her to step aside in a voice that was dangerously steady; she refused.

"Blake... I don't know what's wrong, but I'd be very grateful if you could explain to me what is going on before I let you into my home."

Weiss couldn't speak, or stand, or move.

"Ruby, this has nothing to do with you. I'll be fine with talking to Weiss outside."

"You'll tell me before you go anywhere near my girlfriend. I'm sorry, but you look like you're about to snap. I don't want to risk her physical health."

"Her physical health? You really want me to ruin your view of the girl cowering on your couch? You really want that?" Blake's voice remained steady, almost monotone. Ruby glanced over her shoulder to see a wide-eyed Weiss. Who unbeknownst to Ruby, was attempting to get herself together so she could talk to Blake.

"If that is what will happen, then fine. But I need to know."

The faunus seemed taken aback, not foreseeing such strength from Ruby, but she regained her uncaring expression just as fast as she had lost it.

"Her father, the powerful Jacques Schnee, attacked my parents. They had traveled to Atlas to talk to him peacefully. All they wanted was for him to change his views on the faunus so people like me could go there and learn more about technology, in the Kingdom where such is advanced. They arrived, and Jacques didn't even talk to them, look at them. He just told his guards to kill them and the other six who were with them. I am here, Ruby, because your  _girlfriend_ might know where they are. Four of eight of the group are dead, two died in the hospital after being brutally tortured by the police, and the other's at the hands of the leader of the SDC's guards. I don't know if my parents are dead or alive. So are you going to let me talk to her or not?"

Weiss had pulled herself together, and was now standing. Before she could do anything though; Yang appeared behind Blake. "H-how 'bout we a-all t-talk through t-this together?" She panted, holding her knees.

A girl dressed in black stepped beside her. "In case you need translation: let's sit down and speak civilly."

"Yang are you Ok?" Ruby asked concernedly, not only knowing her sister was more than fit so she shouldn't be panting right now )considering their door isn't that far from the parking lot), but also seeing her covered in mud.

"She was running so fast she slipped into a steep ditch, the ground being wet and all, so when Yang was trying to climb back up; she got covered in mud and a good exercise."

"Wait, who are you?" Weiss asked the new girl.

"Ilia Amitola."

Blake ignored the new presences, instead looking at Weiss. Weiss and the rest of them, however, were all staring at each other as if trying to comprehend the situation and what was going to happen next.

Ruby stepped to the side, nodding to the three outside the door to come in. They file in, and take a seat on the couch, well everyone but Yang who stood by the comfy couch and smiled slightly at the street fighting game on the screen.

Ruby and Weiss also stood, opting to stay where they could see everyone - though when Ruby saw just how much mud Yang had on her; she temporarily left to grab a towel for her sister to stand on. Yang accepted the towel with a small 'thanks' and placed it under her feet so she wouldn't get the carpet dirty.

Ilia spoke up when it became clear that the other four weren't going to start the much needed conversation.

"So you're Weiss Schnee?"

The girl in question nodded, and Ilia turned to look at the faunus next to her. "You actually trusted a Schnee?"

Blake didn't even look over, her gaze remained fixed on the guilty looking heiress.

"There was no reason for her not to..." Yang said quietly, briefly glancing at Ilia.

The freckled chameleon scoffed.

"My parents actions are not my own, my defiance of their beliefs and wants should be a statement of that."

Ilia only scoffed again, eyeing Ruby as if to say: 'What? And she's your act of defiance?'. The sisters shifted uneasily, neither having any idea what to with all the tension.

"Talking to me or Ilia?" Blake asked, her voice remaining monotone, but also gaining an exhausted quality to it.

Ruby's hands balled into fists, she was  _not_ happy with the way the two girls were ganging up on Weiss.

"Both." Weiss sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Weiss had always known that her father was beyond racist; even shady, and sometimes, he could be dangerous. She had never known him to kill for no reason though, Weiss had no idea that her father felt so much hate for a species that did nothing to him... it was heartbreaking in it's own way. "Though I have one more thing to say to you, Blake. I had no idea about the attack on your parents, not even an inkling that any fight had broken out at my father's house. I'm sorry. I'll do anything I can to figure out where they are at, and allow you to see them - if only to pay back the debt I now owe you."

The silence after Weiss's mini speech and heartfelt apology, was deafening.

"You will do that Schnee. But your debt doesn't end there." Blake said evenly. 

"I disagree." Ruby growled. Blake ignored her, leaving the apartment in silence.

Ilia let out a breath through her mouth, and rubbed her hands down her thighs.

"Whew, well, there's my cue to leave." Then she left.

Yang sank down onto the towel on the floor, and sitting cross-legged on it, and buried her head in her hands.

Ruby pulled Weiss, who didn't even realize she was crying, into a hug. Everyone had, had enough emotional stress to last them for months.


	15. Conflicting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is first person objective Ghira's POV, ENJOY

_Ghira pulled his wife closer by his side as they waited for the call to go through._

_"Hello, this is Siren of the SDC. How may I help you?" An obviously fake-cheery voice asked._

_The Menagerie chieftain took a deep breath before beginning to speak._ _"Hello, I am Ghira Belladonna, Chieftain of Menagerie. I wish to speak to Jacques Schnee about important matters."_

_There was a pause._

_"I'm sorry, but Mr Schnee is not available right now, should I take a message?" Siren practically sang in the fake cheerful way of a SDC secretary. He shared a look with Kali, and with a nod from her; gave his answer in the affirmative._

_"Yes, that will suffice. If you could tell him we are on our way to discuss some politics, and will be there within the week. It would be preferable if we are told if our presence is not welcome, but other than that; no response is necessary."_

_"Ok, your message will be delivered. Is there anything else I can do for you Mr Belladonna?"_

_"No, thank you for your time."_

_"Have a nice day."_

_"You too."_

_They ended the call and Ghira sighed,_ _"Well, that felt much more stressful than it really was."_

_Kali giggled and pecked her husband on the cheek before standing to make them each tea._

_When no response came by the end of that week; Kali and Ghira picked the half dozen they wanted to go with them on the journey, and set out._

_During their journey across the ocean, Ghira thought of his daughter, Blake. He wished he had talked to her more after she had left home to live in Vale, but he was always afraid of overstepping boundaries. She didn't leave Menagerie for no reason after all, and he didn't want to anger her._

_He and Blake had gotten into an argument about her, her life and what she should do with said life. Ghira never meant to be pushy, or obstinate. He was just afraid for his daughter. He wanted Blake to stay in Menagerie and settle down with a nice girl or boy, build a life, albeit a simple one. Blake wanted to go to Vale, go to college to become a principal and have her own school that was welcoming to human and faunus alike. A move that, Ghira knew, could cause backlash from those in Vale who were still discriminatory._

_It was so bad, Kali called the guards to separate them because she was afraid they would hurt each other. Blake left the next day after that, just packed up and left. Didn't even say goodbye to Ghira, only Kali._

_The boat took them to Mantle. where they got on a airship to the floating kingdom of Atlas._

_It was easy to get to the Schnee manor from there, Jacques seemed to have been waiting for them, as when they got to the guards gate, they let them through once they knew he was Ghira Belladonna - which wasn't hard to tell._

_The eight of them walked up the luxurious path, and to the large, engraved oaken doors. Ghira raised his hand to knock, but the doors swung open and ten or so armed men marched forward. The one in the lead put his hand to a com in his ear, "Mr Schnee, Ghira Belladonna and seven others are here." He stood for a minute, before a smile spread across his face. Ghira decided too soon that, that was a good sign._

_"Attack!"_

_The Menagerie Chieftain had no weapon, neither did any of his people, or his wife. So when the guns were raised, and first steps from Jacques men came; he did the only thing he could do - threw himself at the first man, and killed him. Ghira tossed the bloody body to the side, and attacked the other's, but a gun shot stopped him in his tracks. It all went black_


	16. Payback's a Bitch

Yang was sprawled with Adrian on Blake's couch, watching TV. Blake herself was making dinner in the kitchen which was chicken broccoli alfredo and tater tots.

"Adrian, can you tell Yangy that dinner is almost ready?!"

"Yeah!" His little voice called back.

Blake and Yang made a bet when she and Adrian had first come over. It was that the two women could only talk through Adrian - who willingly agreed. It was actually quite funny when you took a moment to watch what happened, Blake would ask Adrian if he would tell Yang something, he would tell Yang whatever it was, Yang would send Adrian with a note to read to Blake, and she would help him with any words he had trouble reading before sending him back.

Adrian came running into the room a minute later with a note clutched in his hand, "Good, be-cau-se I'm hungry, Blakey."

The faunus woman smiled down at Adrian and took the note to read over herself.

"Ok, look at that word. The one that starts with the 'b'. That is 'because', 'be-cause' two syllables; not three. Sound it out for me?"

"Be-cause." Adrian dutifully repeated back slowly, and earned a smile, a nod, and a pat on the shoulder.

Before he ran back though, Blake neatly wrote a small message of her own to Yang. It was breaking the rules, but - Blake can bend them - it's not like Yang can get payback in anyway the ebony-haired woman wouldn't like. The little ram faunus took the note to Yang, before snuggling back into her and watching the action figure show that was playing.

Blake watched the blonde read the note and look over at her, but Blake maintained an innocent smile while stirring the cooking pasta. A devilish grin spread itself on Yang's way-too-kissable lips, only growing in intensity while typing out a text (presumably) for Blake. The  _ding_ coming from her scroll a second later confirmed this theory.

_"Blakey, y u torture me? Pls... I just wanna talk 2 u. And kiss u (a lot), that 2. Do u want 2 make-out with me?"_

A laugh exited Blake's mouth before she could stop it, which only made Yang's grin grow wider. Not only had she used her 'text talk' which Blake found cute, but she had also pulled the 'kiss me' card - which usually resulted in Blake obliging. It was a two-way road that can only lead to something the trainer would very much enjoy.

Blake checked on the pasta and chicken, then satisfied that nothing needed her immediate attention; wrote a message back.

_"I would love to make-out with you. Set the time and date - I'll be there. ;)"_

Blake wouldn't look at Yang after sending that message, she was afraid she would blush, which would ruin the calm, cool, collected facade Blake always tried to maintain. Though it was, in all honesty; a fruitless endeavor. Yang's eyes would look in places that the faunus woman constantly caught herself - accentuating - whenever Yang would come over. And that was not a good thing, considering Adrian was always with Yang when she came over, and with his adoptive mother's already ample bosom, he really didn't need to see anything that he didn't usually.

Blake's faunus ears twitched when she heard the sound of the couch creaking, and Adrian grumbling lightly because he had to snuggle a pillow now. That meant only one thing: she should get ready to blush like crazy.

She felt arms wrapping around her waist, and a chin resting on her shoulder while she cut the chicken into neat cubes.

"Yang, what are you doing?" Blake asked pretending to not know _exactly_ what was happening.

"You mean hugging you?" The blonde quipped back, her tone reeking of feigned naivety.

"Yeah, sure. Why?"

"'Cause you're pretty beautiful."

"That's redundant." Blake blandly commented while she dumped the chicken into a pot that held the alfredo sauce and pasta.

"No, it's like saying you're very beautiful. And you are." Yang's sneaky hands crept up a little higher to trace burning patterns on Blake's rib cage.

The faunus decided to not reply, anything she said would only escalate the situation, and her face couldn't handle any more heat from the blood rushing to it.

The door opened, saving her - or more like saving her dignity - Blake wouldn't have minded standing there with Yang's arms around her and no (currently on the mind) care in the world. But the door did open, and in came Ilia. The freckled faunus had been staying with Blake the past three days since Blake got the horrible news regarding her parents. It was a little awkward, but both were adults and moved past their past to make the required situation work.

And sadly, yes, it was required.

Ilia traveled all the way to Vale, took the time to find Blake, get a message to her, meet her, and all of those things - but she forgot to bring money since she was able to get to Vale without it. A little favor she called in with the captain of a boat. So she couldn't pay for a hotel room, and Blake, seeing the easiest option before her; told Ilia she could stay with her.

"Hello Blake, Adrian, and - Yang." Ilia paused at Yang's name, she wasn't particularly fond of the blonde. She was just so... touchy. It wasn't because of jealousy, but embarrassment that Ilia didn't like being around when Yang would run her hands over Blake's body. It was like Yang had no filter; simply doing what she wanted, when she wanted.

"Hello Ilia, how was your day with the - spouse?" Blake cringed a little at the vague word, but it was Ilia's fault for not telling her who she married! Ugh, now Yang was pulling away, Blake's bane. But Yang at least had some semblance of respect for the fact that Ilia was obviously uncomfortable whenever the trainer would toe the line of PG-13.

"Good, we got lunch, then headed over to the park and hung out there for awhile." Ilia replied smoothly, entering the kitchen and laying her black backpack on the kitchen island.

"Oh, sounds like fun. What did you say their name was again?" Blake attempted nonchalance, but she knew she failed the second she said it.

"I didn't."

Blake groaned in frustration at Yang's leaving the kitchen to sit with Adrian, and Ilia's insisted omission of her partner's name/gender. It wasn't important like that, but the cat faunus wanted, no,  _needed_ to know. Ilia broke up with Blake because she wouldn't come out. The chameleon still hadn't come out by the time Blake left Menagerie, and it was killing her to not know if Ilia found the confidence while she was gone.

Ilia noticed the loud groan. "You know you can just ask me, right?"

"What's their name?"

She laughed, "The other question, Blake."

It took Blake a moment to realize what Ilia meant, even though she was just thinking about it a minute before.

"Did - did you do it? After I was gone... did you come out?"

Ilia sighed deeply, but she had a smile on her face, it was small; merely a tug at the corners of her mouth. After staying silent for a moment or two, Ilia spoke, "My wife, I think, is a testament to the fact that I did."

Blake squealed, highly uncharacteristically. Somehow this news lifted a weight, a weight that didn't care for herself, but for her friend. After all, Blake had Yang, she had no reason to be jealous, and she wasn't.

"God, Blake! Don't ever make that unholy noise again!" Ilia yelled dramatically, covering her ears with her hands, and stumbling back a few steps.

Blake made the noise again, but this time on purpose, "Can I meet them?!"

"Not if you make that sound again," Ilia threatened, pointing at Blake the way an adult would when reprimanding a child. "It'd kill me before I'd be able to take you to her."

...

Weiss and Ruby sat across from Blake and Yang in the living room, with Ilia snacking on chips at the kitchen island. The air was tense, thick with anger, resentment, and nervousness. Also the occasional crunching sound of Ilia chomping down on a chip, which normally would have made Yang laugh, but she felt split. Torn between being there for her sister, and the girl she lov- liked.

"So, what did you find out?" Blake asked impatiently, tired of staring at the Schnee.

Weiss shifted uneasily before answering, "I don't know exactly where they are, but I was able to find out the general area; somewhere around the center of Mantle. I was also able to find out that the four who are still alive are stable. No one else is in danger of dying, and the Atlas police are going to release them once they sign something which will bind them from speaking of what happened."

"What do you mean 'able'?" Blake leaned back into the couch, while the moment was punctuated by a loud  _crunch_ from Ilia.

"I mean 'able', and what that word implies. My father's employee's are scared of him, so because of his orders to not tell anyone they gave me next to nothing information wise. And the information they did give me is only because they are scared of me too."

Ilia scoffed, then chomped noisily down on another chip.

Ruby whipped her head around to face Ilia, her fury barely in check, "Will you use your manners and stop. Eating. So.  _Loudly?!"_ The room went silent as everyone processed what just happened, the silence was only broken by the chameleon setting the crinkling chip bag down on the counter.

"Was your problem really my eating?" She asked Ruby, leaning forward on the stool she was sitting on.

"Yes," The red-head replied simply, holding eye contact with Ilia. "Should I be upset about something else as well?"

"No, unless you count my not believing your girlfriend's jacked up story."

Ruby's face went red, "Yes, well, you can keep that opinion to yourself." Her sentence came out as a growl.

"Not really, you see, my family died in the dust mines of her father. I found out at school, the school I had to pretend to be a human at to attend. Atlas Academy. My 'friends' laughed at the accident, saying the faunus that died there deserved it for 'being so clumsy', that they brought it on themselves!" Ilia took a deep breath before continuing on while looking at Weiss, "I don't trust you, Schnee, because your family has only brought me pain. I don't trust you, because your family puts up fronts, you act like you're good people, then you go and kill hundreds each day in the dust mines. You have the power over so many lives, so yeah, I don't get how you can't get all the information you need; from the people you pay to do your dirty work."

"Ilia - I'm so sorry, I-"

The chameleon held up a hand to stop Weiss, "I don't want to hear it. Save your apologies for the families of the dead faunus, not that they'll accept them."

The air in the room defused to plain exhaustion, no one felt like arguing anymore, no one felt like being obstinate or difficult, all of them just wanted to go to bed and forget about the horrible evening they just had, and pretty much everything that they talked about.

Blake is the only one who wanted to remember anything, at that was the area her parents could be; central Mantle.

Weiss and Ruby left not long after that, but not before Yang got a hug from her little sister. When the blonde was closing the door, she thought she saw a movement off to the side of the house, but she disregarded it and shut the door.

She was going to crash at Blake's house that night, so there was no need to head out with Adrian herself.

...

Adrian looked out the window of one of Blake's guest room's and watched a man leap over the backyard fence. He was tall, and had a black ski mask on, but Adrian thought he recognized him. The man who hit Yangy a year ago.


	17. Permanent?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be warned, the chapter after this one has a huge TRIGGER WARNING. I will notify you in the notes of that chapter as well. ENJOY

Yang sat across from Ilia in the living room, the gym had been closed because of a busted pipe, so Yang was left to stay at Blake's house with the chameleon - who also had nowhere to go the one day Yang couldn't leave along with Blake and Adrian.

They had a routine; Blake would get up, make everyone breakfast, get Adrian up, make sure he gets ready, and then drag Yang out of bed. It gave Yang more sleep, and allowed Blake to 'spend some quality time' with Adrian. Yang didn't question Blake's logic when she came up with this, because as much as she hated living in the principal's house, proceeding to sleep in her bed, and then not even do anything uber helpful around the place: at the time Yang had just taken something to help her sleep, and Blake looked very gorgeous when she proposed their current arrangement.

The sleeping in Blake's bed part was the best though, because it was  _with_ the raven-haired woman. They barely kissed, like, ever, and yet they were sleeping in the same bed. Amazing, but - actually just amazing, Yang has no complaints or comments there.

However the whole thing still confused Yang, why didn't she go back to her house? Ilia made it clear she didn't understand at all either, but Blake silenced the complaining girl with a glare that would send Jacques Schnee running - which is probably the reason she created the look. But really, why didn't Yang go back to her house? All the blonde knew was that she crashed here one night, then just never went back.

She thought it had something to do with being there for Blake, because although the cat faunus hid it; she was in a lot of pain and was very stressed out over her parents. She tries to only let those emotions show outwardly when Weiss is around, after all, Blake didn't trust Weiss anymore because of what her father did to her parents. Who better to be clearly pissed off around?

"So, Yang, you sleep well last night?" Ilia asked as if broaching a tough subject.

Yang was wondering if she should answer truthfully or not, just in case this was a trick question - but she couldn't think of how it could be so she decided to answer honestly, "Yeah, I've been really tired lately, so I fell asleep pretty fast."

"Have you had trouble sleeping other nights, while you were here I mean?"

"Umm, not really, no."

"What do you mean 'not really'?"

Yang was starting to feel like she was just caught guilty of something, even though she didn't know what she could possibly be guilty of. "I don't know, just - not really. I didn't not have trouble sleeping, but I also wasn't having trouble sleeping either. That make any sense?"

Ilia reclined further back into her chair, looking content and comfortable until you got to her eyes, which were trained with much ferocity on Yang. "No."

The blonde cleared her throat, "Ahem, umm, well - I don't know another way to explain it."

"Try." Ilia said, favoring a single syllable word for the second time in a row.

"Haven't you ever had sleep that wasn't good or bad? Well for me it's the opposite of neither good nor bad sleep, it's being unable to sleep that's not good or bad." When Ilia said nothing, Yang tried her chances with figuring out why the faunus was asking, "What made you think I was having trouble sleeping anyways?"

"No reason." Ilia stood and walked to the kitchen, setting her empty glass which once held lemonade, into the sink. She walked at a leisurely pace back, resettling into her cushioned chair. "But you have been, so why?"

Yang really had no idea where Ilia was going with this. The trainer's mind landed on jealousy, but didn't Ilia have a wife? "Look, I really don't know, I just haven't been. Where are you going with this?"

Ilia was silent, until she let out a long sigh, "I got this bad feeling, Yang. And I can't tell if it's coming from you or not. But there is something really wrong, and I don't like it. I can feel it's eyes on me while I sleep, and I'm almost positive I can hear it, walking around the side of the house while it thinks we're asleep. I don't like you. I don't like your sister. And I definitely don't like the Schnee. The only people I like in this house are Adrian and Blake, the problem is; remember the foreboding feeling? Well, I think whatever I'm sensing is coming after the two of them, and I  _really, really_  don't like that."

Yang remembered the shadow she thought she saw moving the other night, she remembered the creaking noises that have kept her from sleeping sometimes, noises she never really gave a second thought (except to mentally comment on how annoying they are) - until now. "I got the same feeling." She whispered, not liking where her mind was taking her once more, "And I don't doubt that it's looming over Blake and Adrian, not for one second."

The two of them stared at each other, and saw fear in both of their eyes. A fear that was making the air in the room almost unfit to breath, it was so thick with anxiety. But they just sat there, their imaginations running wild...

While a man ran to a car that was parked nearby, and prepared himself. This was going to be the night.

...

Blake was on lunch break, and read nervously over her notes for that night, whispering them to herself.

"Yang, I know we have a sort-of understanding, but I want to make it official; will you go on a date with me and be my girlfriend? I want to make us permanent. I know I have a lot of baggage, including my missing parents, and I get it if you don't want to be anymore involved with all of that than you already are. Because at some point I am going to find them, and there will be people who will get sent straight to hell over this. But I love Adrian, and you are a huge part of my life, and my sanity right now, I-i love..." Blake sighed, there was the one line she couldn't say, not even while alone. All of the overwhelming emotions the faunus has been experiencing for the past week-ish, was weighing on her shoulders, but tonight  _was_ going to be the night. Blake was sure of that.

She started over.


	18. Part 2 of Permanent

Blake pulled in, and smiled when Yang rushed out to help with Adrian. "Hey." She said quietly when Yang came around the car to face her, after setting Adrian down so he could run inside.

"Hey," The blonde said back, pulling Blake into her by her waist, and the faunus reciprocating by lacing her fingers around the back of Yang's neck. "How was your day?"

"It was good." Blake sighed contentedly, leaning up to steal a kiss from Yang. It lasted for several seconds until Yang pulled away, gently.

"I'm making dinner tonight, and I did the laundry." She declared, making Blake chuckle.

"You ended a perfectly good kiss to inform me how you've made yourself useful?"

Yang grinned. "Yes, because if I don't inform you that I'm going to make dinner - and do the dishes afterwards - you always find ways to keep me from doing them."

"It's my house, I can take care of it."

"Precisely, I'm living in your house, so I need to help."

"But I like making dinner." Blake pouted, giving Yang a look the faunus knew she couldn't resist.

"You can help." Yang growled, pulling fully away from Blake. The raven-haired woman followed after Yang, stopping her by wrapping her arms around Yang and planted several kisses on her neck. Yang sighed, leaning into Blake. "I said you could help."

"Yes, but - you said it angrily."

"Well, I'm not angry, I just feel so useless. I don't want to be a burden, I honestly never even planned on staying this long, but I have stayed this long so I want to help. You already practically take care of Adrian-"

"Only in the mornings," Blake interjected.

"Maybe, but still. I want to help more."

Adrian ran out of the house. "Yangy! Miss Blake! Hurry up and come inside!"

They both chuckled, and did as bid, walking hand-in-hand into the house. Ilia was lounged on the couch, eating - no surprise - potato chips, while setting up a board game that she would probably play with Adrian. The little ram himself was running a circuit between the kitchen and the living room, a paper plane held tightly in one of his small hands. Yang walked with purpose to the kitchen, barely dodging Adrian. Blake smiled, watching Adrian making a crashing sound when he threw the plane at a wall, and watched as Yang made ambulance noises and ran over to hand her son some tape before dashing back to the kitchen. The scene before her was exactly what Blake had always wanted. A family of her own, just being a family.

...

They all sat at the dinner table, eating the rolls, spaghetti and home-made meatballs Blake and Yang prepared with a little extra help from Adrian. There was also salad, but Yang forgot to take it out of the fridge and place it on the kitchen island that doubled as a dinning room table, so - they just hadn't gotten it out yet.

"So, Ilia, I just realized something, why aren't you staying with your wife if she's in town?"

Ilia looked up at Blake from her plate of food. "The lady who is lending her a room for a few weeks is super strict, Carmen can't have anyone over."

"Carmen? That's your wife's name?" Blake questioned, taking a bite.

"Yeah."

"It's a pretty name."

"Thanks."

Yang and Adrian looked at each other, looked at the bread basket, Yang smiled, Adrian smiled, and they had a plan.

"Miss Ilia?" Adrian said, tugging at her sleeve.

She looked over, "Yeah, buddy?"

"May you pass me the bread basket, please?"

"Sure." Ilia grabbed the small weaved basket, and handed it to Adrian's small, outstretched hands.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She went back to eating.

Adrian quickly dumped the basket full of bread, out onto the chair next to him, then set the basket - very glumly - back on the table.

"Adrian, buddy, what's wrong?" Yang asked, her voice full of fake worry.

Ilia and Blake didn't look up.

"There was no more bread..." The young faunus proclaimed, pouting.

Still, they didn't look up from their food.

Yang stood, grabbing the basket, "Ok, I'll get us some more." She sat back down after filling the small basket to it's rim with rolls - about ten or fifteen. "Blake, Ilia, do either one of you want a roll?"

Ilia didn't look up - only shook her head 'no', while Blake did and smiled at Yang. "No thanks." She went back to eating.

Yang grinned, and emptied the roll basket on the seat next to her.

This repeated several times, as very - very many rolls were made since Blake was going to take some of them to the Kindergarten the next day for the staff, but the kids would be allowed one roll each. Neither Blake, nor Ilia seemed to notice the growing mounds of rolls that were accumulating next to Adrian and Yang. They were either too engrossed in whatever conversation, or eating silently with their eyes trained on their food.

The two old friends ate at about the same pace, so when Yang saw that the both of them were almost done, she signaled Adrian. Adrian asked to be excused, then ran to the guest room he had been staying in; coming out moments later with a blanket in hand.

He placed it on the floor and started transferring all the rolls to the center of it. Meanwhile, Yang was trying to act interested in the small talk Blake and Ilia were exchanging about favorite flowers.

Adrian came around to Yang's side and did the same. When he was done; he ran the blanket with it's rolls to - for all intense of purposes - his room.

He sauntered out, swinging his arms. Yang caught his gaze and they air high fived. Blake smiled at them. "You two are so cute - but," Blake commented, while Ilia smirked. "You do realize I'm going to need those back before you go to bed, right?"

"How did you know?! You weren't even looking at us!" The older of the two children burst out, lightly slamming her fist down onto the table/counter.

"Yang, even if I didn't have cat ears so I could hear you  _clearly_... you did all of that right in front of me. Trust me - I saw you." Blake kissed Yang's cheek as she stood to put her plate in the sink.

...

Yang was helping Blake with the dishes by drying them when the faunus would hand her one. They were almost done, only a bowl and a few utensils left.

"Hey, umm, Yang?" Blake asked quietly, holding eye contact with Yang for a second while handing her the bowl she just scrubbed clean.

"Yeah?"

Blake handed Yang the two forks, pulled off her gloves, and turned the water off. "Can I talk to you?"

Yang finished drying the forks, and set them down on the counter to wait to be put away. "Absolutely, what is it?"

"Uhm, heh, I-i was thinking about... about-"

"Hey, it's Ok." Yang laid her hand on Blake's shoulder, reassuringly.

"Thanks, umm, j-just... let me try that again." She cleared her throat. "I hope you know that - that I really care about you and Adrian. You two are like family, a-and I just... I want to  _be_ with you. Not just living in the same house," She gestured around. "But  _being_ together. I want to say I'm yours, that we're permanent. I guess I-i'm asking you," Blake got down on one knee, taking Yang's hands in her own. "Date me?"

The blonde laughed, and pulled Blake into a hug, breathing in the raven-haired woman's smell of jasmine. "Yes, Blake, yes."

Blake pulled away and placed her hands on either side of Yang's face, Yang copying the motion. Their foreheads touched as they swayed back and forth. Lips connected softly, moving slowly against each other while the owners of said lips grinned into each kiss.

"What a shame."

Blake and Yang jumped apart, to stare at the tall man who had a knife at Adrian's throat, a gun pointed at Ilia, and a look of genuine disappointment on his face.

"I was going to make this easy on you, Yang, but then you moved in, shared a bed, and - now this. So," He shrugged. "I'm going to enjoy watching their faces as you scream, writhe, beg for mercy, plead for me to stop, and leave them - because you are nothing against me. Hell, you're nothing period."

Blake grabbed Yang's hand and squeezed it, seeing how Yang was shaking and her eyes flickered between lilac and blood red, faster and faster. "You're Junior." She stated, addressing the man with no small amount of hatred.

He smiled. "Yes, kitty, I am Junior."

"Don't talk to her!" Yang growled, taking a step forward, her eyes landing on, and staying on red.

"I can talk to whomever I want. That's a lesson you must have forgotten,  _whore._ " He spat, disdain lacing his words. He took a few steps forward and saw that Ilia hadn't moved with him. Before anyone could react, Junior shot her in the leg. She screamed, falling to the ground - her aura had barely fended off the bullet because of how close Junior was when he shot her.

Blake tried to run to Ilia's side, but she stopped in her tracks when Junior made Adrian whimper by pressing the knife harder against his neck, a droplet of blood surfacing.

"Fuck you." Blake said quietly, starting to shake from anger herself.

Junior laughed, "If everything goes my way, kitty - if everything goes my way."


	19. When Will the Horrors End?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING FOR: VIOLENCE, RAPE, VERBAL ABUSE, EMOTIONAL ABUSE, BEING HELD CAPTIVE, PAIN, SCREAMING, TORTURE, AND BEING FORCED TO WATCH ALL OF THE ABOVE!!

Blake, Ilia, and Adrian were all tied up and gagged on the couch. Adrian had his eyes closed, but the two women were watching what was happening with wide-eyed horror. Yang and Junior had fought for a long time, both taking hits that would make a normal person fall to their knees. Eventually though, Junior was able to force a contraption onto the blonde's face. She began to scream, and her screams only got louder and louder, until she didn't have strength to scream - only whimper piteously.

Yang was crumpled on the floor, her eyes were rolled in the back of her head while tears seeped under the leather of the contraption. Junior was watching with growing interest seeming to border on excitement. He moved closer. Blake tried getting up to stop him from doing anything else to Yang, but the ropes that bound her body left her immobile. Junior ignored her.

He bent down next to Yang. "Ah, it looks like you've been drained of your aura completely. Didn't take long, did it? I guess that's expected," He brushed some hair behind Yang's ear. She jerked away weakly and a sob could be heard. Junior sighed. "Don't do that, you know I have to teach you a lesson." He grabbed his scroll out of his pocket and pressed a button on it. A hissing sound filled the air temporarily, and the mask loosed itself. Junior picked it up, then stood to carry the leather device over to a duffel bag and place it in it.

"Now," He said, grabbing something else. "The real fun begins."

It was white with thin, blue lines running along the main body, while the tip of it had two silver spikes. He walked back over to Yang who was trying to crawl away, but she couldn't move her legs.

"I'm going to ask you a question, and you are going to answer. If the answer is wrong, I'll have to use this on you." He presses a small button and electricity buzzes between the two spikes. "Now, what do you love about that mangy cat of a woman?"

Yang was shaking, and a trail of blood made it's way down her cheek from her mouth, but she held eye contact with Junior. "Her hair."

In a flash she was screaming while Junior pressed the electrocuting device into her side.

He stopped, "What do you love about that disgusting boy you call your son?"

"His smile," Blood flew out of her mouth as she screamed again.

He stopped, "What do you love about your obnoxious sister?"

"Her kindness."

This happened over, and over, and over again. Each time Junior asked, Yang would answer bravely, and pay the price for it. Adrian was screaming and crying as he heard horrors no child, or adult should ever see - happen to his mother. Blake and Ilia were both trying to comfort him while still gagged and bound, but they were also sobbing at the abominable scene playing out before them. What did she love about Blake? What did she love about Adrian? What about Ruby? The same questions, different responses, and the same outcome.

"If you would just give me the right answer, I wouldn't have to do this!" Junior yelled angrily, throwing the white taser across the room and punching a wall. "Why do you insist on making me hurt you?!" He leaned back against the wall and watched Yang's body convulse from the amount of electricity still coursing through it.

When Yang finally went still, she fell unconscious. Leaving Junior, Blake, Ilia, and Adrian.

Junior turned to his captives, "Don't worry, kitty, I won't let her stay that way for long. But when she wakes up, she'll wish I had."

...

Yang had been unconscious for a hour and a half, and Junior made himself busy during this time. He placed a wooden chair in the middle of the floor, then bolted it's legs down. He nailed various leather straps to the arms of the chair and the legs, then ripped the back of it off. Junior glued a headrest to the top of the chair back, and then nailed it back onto the chair, but this time level with the actual seat. More straps were added to the sides. Blake's imagination didn't have to run far for her to guess what it was going to be used for.

"Now, to wake up sleeping beauty," Junior muttered, grabbing a bucket he had filled with water and dumping it over Yang's head.

She woke with a start, coughing and gasping.

While she recovered, Junior untied Blake. "Put her on the chair, and strap her there." He pulled out his gun to enforce that Blake has to do what he says.

"I'm so sorry," The faunus sobbed as she half dragged, half supported Yang to the chair. "I'm s-so sorry."

Yang gripped Blake's arm when she was sat down onto the chair, her lilac eyes pleaded what her mouth could not. She wanted Blake to live, she wanted Adrian to live - and her begging gaze asked for Blake to get the two of them out of there.

"I love you," Blake whispered as she helped lower Yang down so her head was on the headrest and strapped her in, trying to be gentle as she slipped the hard leather through the buckle on each limb. Yang gritted her teeth in pain when Blake fastened straps over her chest and abdomen.

"Now, on your knees. I want to show that kid what a real man does, so maybe one day he could amount to one."

Blake didn't have much choice as the gun was pointed right at Ilia's head, but she looked over at Yang - who had her eyes closed, as if resigned to fact that she was going to violated in the most private of ways. It hurt, but Blake couldn't deny that it would mean much less pain for the blonde.

She followed Yang's example and kept her eyes closed while Junior's painful grip on her head kept a steady rhythm. Blake only hoped Adrian wasn't seeing what a man (if Junior even amounts to one) could do with a gun and a girl.

His groans grew louder, but he pushed Blake away before ejaculating. Junior pulled his knife from his undone belt and walked over to Yang, the gun still pointed at Ilia. In one swift motion; there was a slit in Yang pants and underwear. "Get over here, I want you to talk to her until I'm finished."

Blake could not wrap her mind around why Junior was doing this, her talking to Yang would be comforting. 'When she remembers what happened... she would only remember the pain and -' Blake gasped as the pieces to the puzzle fell into place, and her thoughts centered around one thing. 'She will remember the pain and - my voice...'

"No-" The raven-haired girl whispered, horror laced heavily throughout the one syllable.

"What did you say to me?! Get the fuck over there, and I better hear you talking!"

Then Blake realized why Junior had been asking Yang what she loved about her, Adrian, and Ruby - he was trying to associate all of the pain she feels with them, so that Yang would never be able to see them, hear them, or even fucking smell them again without remembering what happened. Every part of them would cause her flashbacks, remind her of the agony. Blake couldn't move, the shock of the realization keeping her still. She didn't even notice Junior coming at her until the butt of the gun hit her in the side of the head.

And it all went black.

...

Blake came to, the sound of muffled yelling reaching her ears. She opened her eyes and everything was fuzzy, hazy. She could make out figures... they were... holding someone down and - red hair, there was a girl with red hair. Figures where holding her too, but holding her back... away from the person being held on the ground. Blake feels like she knows the girl, but can't remember. White... a flash of white passed through Blake's vision and stood in front of the red-head. Blake knows that person too - and the name is coming to her. Schnee... Schnee...

The faunus's vision started to clear, and the 'figures' became police officers, the person being held on the ground was Junior, the red-head was Ruby, the person with white hair was Weiss, and then Blake saw the stretcher. The stretcher was holding Yang. She had bandages covering her head, her chest, her shoulder... no - her arm, or what was left of it.

There were medics too, medics pushing the stretcher, and medics surrounding Blake.

The sound was coming back too, and the first thing Blake heard clearly was Ruby, "Fuck you! Fuck you, you motherfucking monster! I hope you rot in hell! You piece of fucking shit! Go to fucking hell! You ever come near my sister again, I swear to fucking God!"

Then came Weiss, "Ruby calm down, we'll put him in prison for the rest of his miserable life. Just please calm down, if you attack him, he can sue on account of assault. Right now we have the evidence, and honestly anything we need to make the rest his life living hell. Take deep breaths."

And finally the medics leaning over her, "Can you hear me?" Blake nodded and the woman seemed happy to get a response. "Good, now how many fingers am I holding up?"

Blake studied her hand for a second, "Uh, three?" Her voice was hoarse and crackly.

"Good job! That'a a good sign that you don't have a concussion, but I need to ask you a few more questions, just to make sure. Is that Ok?"

Blake nodded.

"Alright, do you know your name?"

"Blake, Blake Belladonna." She said after a moment.

"That's good, you're doing great. Now, can you tell me your age?"

"Umm, twenty... twenty-six."

"Ok, now what color is this?" The medic held up a colored card, it was red. But before Blake could tell her this, a screamed sounded.

The raven-haired woman sat up quickly and whirled her head around to face the direction the scream came from.

It was Ilia, it looked she just woke up. She was sitting on the kitchen counter with a large, long metal rod through her leg, and the wooden counter. Tears were streaming down her face, and the medics who had been trying to get the rod out of her, were now trying to calm her down. She kept screaming.

A lot of memories flooded Blake's mind all at once: Yang screaming, sobbing, begging, getting hit in the face - over, and over, and over again.

It was like it was happening, Blake could see it, she could feel the rope digging into her skin, and the cloth gag rubbing the corners of her mouth raw. "Stop please, stop. Stop hitting her!" Blake screamed to the Junior she saw beating Yang all over again. " _Stop hitting her! Stop it! Get the fuck away from her you monster!_!" There were new sensations on her body, but Blake paid no attention to them, instead staring at the never ending loop of Yang getting hit by Junior, electrocuted by Junior...

...

Ruby watched Blake get dragged out of her house, screaming. It filled her with even more rage, Blake has been through hell the past few weeks. With Yang, with her parents, and now this - the Rose was worried that this would be the last straw for her.

The officers that were holding Junior started moving him bodily out of the house.

Weiss placed a hand on Ruby's arm, keeping her in place while the psychopath was placed in a police car.

Yang was already on her way to the hospital, having lost a lot of blood when her arm was cut off. It was brutal, what Junior did to her. Yang was so badly beaten; blood was seeping out of her face in more places than can be counted. And her aura was drained before she was electrocuted to the point where she had 3rd degree burns all over her torso. Also, if that was wasn't bad enough, he then strapped her to a chair and brutally raped her. The bruises, bite marks, and red hand prints that were starting to bruise themselves, attested to just how little mercy was shown. But her cut open pants and underwear, ripped shirt and bra, and Junior's own partial nudity proving the rape itself.

Then came Blake, she had some bruises of her own, but her main injury was on the side of her head; where it looked like she was hit with something blunt.

Ilia wasn't in as worse shape as Yang, but she was pretty messed up comparatively to Blake. She had a broken leg, a slash across her cheek, plenty of bruises, and a rod that was through her leg,  _and_ the kitchen counter - also bent so that it couldn't just be removed.

Adrian wasn't really all that hurt, thank the heavens. But he did have raw wrists and ankles from the rope, a huge bruise on his chest, and a small cut on his throat. Most of his injuries were mental and emotional.

The pure cruelty of this was something of the likes the police had never seen before. And it made most nauseous.

Ruby watched Ilia pass out from the pain, and the medics inject something in her arm to keep her that way while they worked on getting the rod out. It was all so terrible, but the worst part was, Blake, Ilia, and Adrian were all forced to watch every second of it. Well, Blake was knocked unconscious, but she still had to see most of it. Adrian, though. A child. A kid. Forced to watch his mother be tortured in ways most of mankind has never even dreamed of, painful ways. And tortured in others that are way too common, but just as traumatic. Ruby only hoped he kept his eyes closed, the sounds would be just as traumatizing, but at least he wouldn't be haunted my images. 

"C'mon, Ruby. Let's go ahead and go to the hospital, Ilia will join us there soon." Weiss led Ruby to her car, opening and shutting the door for her before getting in herself.

The ride was pretty silent until Ruby broke out sobbing, covering her eyes with her hands and crying. It was a pitiful sight to see, but more than understandable. When would the horrors end?


	20. Black Blood, Lilac Withered and Gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING FOR: NIGHTMARES, AND DESCRIPTION OF VIOLENCE!!

Weiss sighed, watching both sisters sleep peacefully. Yang in the hospital bed, and Ruby in the chair next to her. The red-head was sleeping with her head against the heiress's shoulder, drooling a thin line of saliva. It was leaving a small puddle on her perfectly white jacket, but how could she care when it was Ruby? The adorable woman who stole her heart the day they met.

The time on her hands allowed the Schnee's mind to wander, running back through what had happened in the past few days, and what they knew.

Ilia had been brought to the hospital an hour after Ruby and Weiss arrived, almost completely drained of blood and unconscious. Her wife showed up not a minute later, frantically pacing and questioning Weiss about what happened. Adrian hadn't been allowed to got to the hospital, something neither Weiss nor Ruby had foreseen, but was instead taken to the police station for more questioning. Weiss rushed there to stay with him, while the Ruby stayed at the hospital.

The next day Ilia had woken up, while both Blake and Yang remained unconscious. The police wanted to question her, so they left to do just that and allowed Weiss and Adrian to go as well. A patrol car escorted them to the hospital, where they waited outside Ilia's room where she was questioned while her wife stood by her side for support.

When the police came out, they relayed as much of the story as they understood, and it went something like:

'According to Miss Amitola, she and Adrian were playing outside together when Mr Xiong leaped over the fence with a gun and pointed it at their heads. Keeping the gun pointed at her, he pulled out a knife and pressed it to Adrian's neck, leading them both inside. She then said that upon entering the house, they watched Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao Long washing dishes for a minute, and continued to watch as Miss Belladonna asked Miss Xiao long to be her girlfriend officially. When Miss Xiao long accepted, Mr Xiong forced the two forward and began talking about how he would have gone easy on Miss Xiao Long if she hadn't been been romantically involved with Miss Belladonna. Miss Amitola went on to explain that Mr Xiong had gotten more threatening and advanced, she didn't move when he did and got shot in the leg - a move which her aura barely survived, but effectively injured her leg with the force. A few words were exchanged and eventually after Mr Xiong insinuated that he would force Miss Belladonna into intercourse, he and Miss Xiao Long began fighting. Miss Amitola can't remember whether or not she was tied up before or after the fight began because of the pain and how fast everything happened, but she was able to say with surety that she was indeed tied up when Mr Xiong started using a taser of sorts on Miss Xiao Long. This process included asking Miss Xiao Long what she loved about different people, and tasing her every time she replied with something...'

And it went on, and on, and on. The horrors piled on top of each other, especially when they found out that Junior had done  _everything_ in front of Adrian. The police had censored out the explicit detail Ilia had used to describe what she remembered of what happened, but it was all still too graphic. Ilia had remembered too well how Yang was raped without pity, the cries for mercy, and the screams of pain as he hit her cruelly over and over.

She also described in great detail how, when she had heard Junior say he wanted to teach Adrian a lesson as well, she lunged at him when he got close, but was quickly beaten down, cut loose, and held down on the counter while he plunged a thin metal rod he had pulled from his duffel bag; through her thigh and twisted it until it was bent into an almost full circle around her leg. Not long after that she had passed out, and remembered nothing until she woke up screaming with the medics surrounding her.

Ruby groaned, lifting her head up off of Weiss's shoulder and blinking blearily against the bright, florescent light in the room. "Has she woken up yet?"

"No, Yang hasn't woken up." Weiss saw Ruby's mouth open and knew what question she was going to ask before she asked it, so Weiss simply answered, saving Ruby the trouble of asking. "And, no, Blake hasn't woken either."

Blake's not waking up was disconcerting, and illogical - health wise. She had the least amount of injury, besides Adrian, so she should never have fallen unconscious, not after the first time. The doctors were running scans on the faunus's brain to see if they missed anything, the only thing they can currently think of is that it's still the concussion causing this - but still; four days is a long time to stay unconscious even with a concussion. It only gets more confusing though, because when Blake woke up for a short period of time she seemed fine. She knew her name, her age, and was able to recognize how many fingers the medic was holding up.

"Oh... Ilia's being released today, or was that tomorrow?"

"Today. Carmen was telling me last night that she just finished the designers job she had here in Vale, so they are probably going to head back to Menagerie as soon as they know Blake is Ok."

Ruby hummed in response, sitting all the way up and rubbing her eyes.

The room was silent after that, except for the soft sound of Yang's breathing, and Ruby's feet touching the ground in rapid succession while she ran in place.

About ten minutes later, a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in." Ruby called, jabbing punches at the air as part of her 'one room workout routine'.

Carmen opened the door, carrying a tray of food. "I know how you guys forget to eat sometimes, so I figured I'd bring something over." The deer faunus said, her bright red hair looking even redder in the white light.

"Thank you." Weiss said, standing and walking over to Carmen. Ruby had already grabbed the tray from the woman's hands, and was now wolfing down the bacon and pancakes.

"No problem. I owe you for saving my wife's life, this is the least I can do."

"Thank the doctors, all Ruby and I did was show up."

The two women looking into each other's eyes for a second, and an understanding passed between faunus and Schnee. If the news had known about the moment, it would have become national news, and that day would be named 'Schnee Faunus Day' - but Lisa Lavender didn't know, so sadly that second would only last in each of their memories.

"How's Ilia doing? I know she has been super restless." Weiss asked, trying not to look at Ruby, who completely forgot to use a fork.

Carmen chuckled, "Heh, just like you said; restless. It's even worse since today she's being released, but she has to wait till noon, my poor wife-y is  _not_  happy about that."

Weiss chuckled along with the heavily tattooed woman next to her, knowing something of her situation because of Ruby. Though the heiress had no idea which one was worse, Ilia because she wasn't allowed to get out of bed or Ruby because her Semblance is speed but she has been forcing herself to stay in one room.

The doctor came to check up on Yang, and Weiss and Carmen left the room.

"Blake?" Carmen asked, looking at Weiss.

"Yes."

They walked in silence, getting to the Belladonna's room within a few strides. Weiss held the door open for Carmen, then let the door close while she moved closer to Blake's bedside. She was pale, and sweating, her forehead scrunched up. The doctors said she had a fever the day before, and Weiss figured it must not have subsided yet. Something about her expression though, and the way her fists her clenched - made Weiss think that there was something psychological going on that was keeping Blake from waking up.

...

**(Five days later)**

Blake opened the door to Yang's hospital room, and sat next to Ruby, who looked haggard and worn out by her older sister's bedside.

It had only been a day since Blake woke up, and since then she has done everything in her power to not leave Yang's side. The lawyers, police officers, and sadly so many others had other plans though. Blake had to give her statement, get an MRI, talk her family's attorney, talk to a real estate agent about her house, work with Weiss and her attorneys, the list was fucking endless.

The faunus sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, then let her hand fall to her side.

"What was it like?"

Blake looked at Ruby, who's voice sounded so broken. "Hmm?"

"While you were unconscious, did you dream? What was it like? What were the dreams?"

"I-i did dream," Blake started, feeling a pit of nervousness in her stomach at telling Ruby this. "It was this endless loop, the same dream over and over again, but I never really noticed that. It always started in my kitchen, and Yang was there. We were washing dishes - or we were supposed to be. It was actually bread baskets. Tons and tons of bread baskets, piled high in my sink, and I washing them, then handing them to Yang for her to dry. It went on like that until someone started shouting. It was indistinct at first, but it became clearer as time went on. Eventually we could hear the words; 'Give me the right answer!' repeated, and growing louder each repetition. I stop washing the dishes and looked over at Yang," Blake's voice broke at the memory. "And she was b-bloody, and gasping for air as she clutched at her side - black blood seeping through her fingers. Then I heard Adrian, calling Yang's name. I looked towards the sound of his voice and saw Junior grab him by his neck and hold him in the air, his cries became gurgles as Adrian attempted to call Yang's name. I  _tried_  to run to him, to help him, but Yang was holding my ankles while blood poured out of her mouth. I looked at her... then I saw what she had written on the floor with her o-own blood: 'Don't leave me, I a-almost learned to l-love again'..." That particular part of the dream was too painful, and Blake looked away From Ruby as she cried.

Ruby watched the faunus cry until Blake regained control of herself, then the red-head turned back to her beloved sister.

Blake continued, "W-when I read the words, I fell to my knees and held her, whispering in her ear that I would never leave her. I stayed that way until the dream went black - but it doesn't end there. I open my 'eyes' in the dream and look around, Yang is sitting next to me and we're on her living room couch, snuggling. I yell her name and wrap my arms around her, saying that I thought she wasn't going to live, and asking how she got better. Yang just laughed as she said; 'You finally taught me'. That's where the dream ends."

Ruby turned to look at Blake again. "You did." She spoke in her hoarse voice. " _You_  did."

"Did what?" Blake had a feeling she knew what Ruby meant, but she let her explain herself.

"I tried for a whole year to get Yang back to normal again, to make her as happy as I knew she could be - but there were wounds I didn't know how to heal. Scars that were too gruesome. When you came into her life, the result wasn't instant, but I could still see it. And when, for that brief period of time, you two were apart; she took five steps backwards. She loved you the second she got to know you, Yang just - didn't want to admit it. You taught her love, Blake, I will always be grateful to you for that."

Blake could feel the emotion welling up again, but she swallowed the lump in her throat, and nodded. A silent 'thank you' passed from her to Ruby.

...

**(Three days later)**

Blake sat in her car, her head leaning against the steering wheel. It has been a long four days since she's been awake, but the past two were particularly grueling. What with the trial coming up in a week and so many things to get done before then, it didn't help anything that Yang still hadn't woken up.

Blake was supposed to be inside the store she was currently sitting outside of, you know, getting groceries etc - but the faunus was far too tired physically, mentally, and emotionally to  _move,_ much less  _walk in_.

A  _buzz_  came from her pocket, and Blake moaned as she moved her exhausted body to pull her scroll out of her back pocket. It was a message from Ruby.

_"Blake! Yang is awake! GET HERE AS FAST AS U CAN!"_

It was like Blake just woke up, she threw her scroll onto the seat next to her, slammed the gear shift into 'drive', and raced off as fast as she could. Cars were angrily honking at her, but Blake didn't care, all she cared about was that Yang was awake. She was awake! Fucking finally!

By a miracle only, Blake didn't get hit while she drove recklessly, and pulled into the hospital parking lot ten minutes faster than she should have.

Blake threw her door open and ran faster than she ever had before, up the stairs, down the hall, to the left, and she was there. Right outside Yang's door. It looked scary now, like it was looming over Blake and daring her to enter. She opened it, and took the two steps so that Yang was in view.

Yang was sitting up, her legs hanging over the side of the bed, but when she looked up; lilac eyes did not meet amber.

Red met gold.

A spark didn't flash between them.

Yet you'd be blind if you couldn't see the fire raging below Yang's skin.


	21. The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree

Yang was talking to the doctor, attempting to slowly convince her that she was fine, and she really didn't need to stay in the hospital any more than a day longer.

All scans showed that Yang's aura had done a pretty good job at healing her, and there was barely a scratch on her body, besides the missing arm of course. The only remaining concern was that the blonde's eyes were red, and this was point the doctor and Yang were currently arguing over.

"Your Semblance is active, and not even you know why! Unless you are lying to me?"

"No, I'm not lying to you! But as far as I can tell, it's just a side effect of what happened, it has no other effect on me!"

"But what if you are wrong? I will not be responsible for the death of my formerly comatose patient, because I let her walk out of here with glowing red eyes, and didn't run any tests to figure out why said eyes are glowing!"

"It's nothing!"

"You are staying here for at least two to four more days, that is final."

"But-"

"Doctor's orders." And with that; she left the room, leaving Yang to stand with her fists clenched by her bed.

Blake stood in the corner, next to Ruby and Weiss who were both sitting down. She watched Yang pull together some semblance, some facade of control and composure. Yang turned to them, eyes still a burning red. "So... that could have gone better."

Blake couldn't reply, she could only remember what happened back at her house and seeing Yang covered in blood, and hearing her screams.

Ruby took a few steps towards Yang. "Well, I'm sure we can persuade her!" She let out a minuscule chuckle and an equally small smile.

Yang didn't laugh, chuckle, or show any sign of lightheartedness other than a smirk and a nod. "I hope so, I hate it here. I want to leave as soon as I can." Yang looked at Blake,  _right_  at Blake. "You believe me, right Blake?"

The way Yang said her name made Blake's heart stop - and not in a good way. It was said almost mocking like the blonde was trying to taunt Blake with how she wasn't affected, and didn't care one bit. Blake gulped. "Umm, believe what?"

Yang chuckled, "You know what... but I'll tell you anyway. Do you believe," She began advancing towards Blake, side-stepping Ruby. "That I'm," Yang stopped just inside Blake's personal space, leaning forward closer to her face. "The same Yang you knew before?" Her breathe ghosted across Blake's face, and Yang smiled as this made the faunus shiver.

Blake's mind was racing and her thoughts scrambled, she was trying to process the difference in how this was same Yang - but it also wasn't. How her body was still so attracted to her, but Blake's mind told her that something was terribly wrong. She opened her mouth to answer, "I-i... I..."

Yang grinned, her red eyes glinting. "Yes?"

"I-i... I do." Blake didn't, she didn't believe Yang at all. She couldn't say that though, not because of Yang specifically (though who knows how she would have reacted to that), but because Blake just couldn't. Nothing in the world would allow Blake to do that, not now - and maybe even not ever.

Yang's grin fell abruptly off her face, and she wrapped her arms around Blake's waist, pulling her closer. Yang leaned in, so she was breathing on Blake's ear. "Promise?"

Ruby and Weiss shared a look, both knew this could go very wrong, very fast. 

The raven-haired woman tried hard to not feel Yang's warmth surrounding her, and to not hear the husky note Yang's voice had taken when she had said 'promise'. She felt pinned, helpless, but - Blake also recognized that part of her felt excited. "Yang...?"

"Yes?" Came the whispered response.

"I promise."

Yang didn't let go. She kissed Blake. Her tongue slipped into Blake's mouth and tickled the back of her throat.

Blake couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. And the way Yang was kissing her meant she couldn't even kiss her back.

"Hmph..." Blake said into the kiss, trying to pull away.

Yang pushed Blake against the wall, becoming rougher and groping Blake's chest.

Fear raced through her, but sickeningly; so did exhilaration. It was painful, but part of the cat faunus was enjoying herself. She struggled more, and that part of her became but a pinprick as fear took over.

It didn't stop until Weiss and Ruby grabbed Yang by the shoulders and threw her off of Blake. Yang crashed into her bed and jumped up quickly, snarling - until she saw Blake wide-eyed and obviously terrified. A flash of remorse crossed Yang's face, but her eye's color didn't change. They were still red.

Yang crossed her arms, and eyed Ruby and Weiss who were standing in front of Blake protectively. "Why did you do that?" She asked nonchalantly.

Weiss mimicked Yang's posture, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. "She was trying to push you off of her."

A dark look entered Yang's gaze, and she smirked. "So?"

"Yang," Ruby looked close to tears. "Don't you care?"

"Not really."

...

**(Three days later)**

Yang walked down the hallway and to the elevator, Ruby, Weiss, Adrian, and Blake following close behind. She got out that day, and she was more than excited. Yang hated it at the hospital, where she was confined to one fucking floor.

They all got into the elevator and sat in awkward silence while some happy classical music played in the background.

It had been a hard three days for everyone, Yang's mood swings and absolute refusal to admit, or even talk about the trauma she experienced with Junior had everyone on edge. For an hour she could be quiet and sweet, but then the next thing you know she could be rough and angry.

They exited the elevator and the hospital, Yang leading the way to Ruby's red convertible that Weiss got her for her birthday. They all hopped in, Yang calling shot-gun, Adrian sitting between Weiss and Blake in the back, and Ruby at the wheel.

"Alright, let's head over to my apartment to hang-out for a while before I take you and Adrian back to your house, Yang." Ruby told Yang while she started the car.

"No."

Everyone looked at Yang.

"Huh?"

She smiled, "No, I don't want to go to your house first, nor do I want to go to my house."

"Then w-where do you want to go?" Ruby stuttered, surprised by this turn of events.

"I want to go to Blake's house."

Blake blanched, in no universe, under any circumstances, did she see this coming. Why the hell would Yang want to go  _there_ of all places?!

Ruby shut off the car, and sat back. "No."

Yang sighed, a smile on her face. "Thought you'd say that."

"No," Ruby turned to look at Yang, "Absolutely not, Yang. We. Are. Not. Going. There."

"Ok." Yang said, opening her car door.

"What are you doing?!" The red-head leaped out of her door, using her Semblance to get in front of Yang.

"I am going to walk to bus stop, ride the bus to the bus stop closest to where Blake's house is, then I am going to walk to her house, bypass all security that might exist, and go in."

"Why?! What purpose would that serve?!" Ruby looked about to break as she yelled, the emotions and the pain resurfacing, "You have been angry, rude, violent, quiet, loud, passive aggressive, and then everything that is opposite to all of that! Basically every emotion and everything you can mention beside happy or sad or genuine! You have had mood swings like no other! Hitting me, Weiss, Blake, you even tried to come at Adrian once! What the motherfucking hell is going on, Yang?! What aren't you telling us?! What is going on?! I-i can't..." Ruby broke down crying, tears streaming down her face. "I can't h-handle seeing you like t-this anymore."

Blake pulled Adrian into her side as he started to cry.

Weiss got out of the car and walked over, holding Ruby close as she sobbed, breaking down for only the second time during this whole ordeal.

Yang looked at Ruby, watching her cry for a minute. She held eye-contact with Weiss, who was pleading to Yang with her eyes to walk over and comfort her sister.

Yang turned around and walked away, her smile gone, along with her happiness, her life, her love, and her sanity. It was all gone - replaced with red eyes, the color of blood.

...

Yang stared at the blood stain on the hard-wood floor, the spot where she was mercilessly tortured. She looked over at the spot where the 'chair' had sat, the space over which she had been mercilessly raped. She looked at the stained counter, where Ilia had sat screaming for the better part of an hour - even after she had fallen unconscious.

She turned away from the wrecked living room and to the room her and Blake had shared. Yang opened the door, and stood over the threshold, looking at the bed she and Blake had shared, the dresser that probably still had both of their clothes in it, the closet Yang had once found herself making out with Blake in, the bathroom where Yang would often steal some of Blake's shampoo - just because she could. She took a step into the room, feeling the atmosphere change a little. She took another step in, and shut the door behind her. Her steps became purposeful as she walked to the bed and sat on it. Yang slowly lowered herself down to lay on the pillows She breathed in Blake's scent and she felt the complete difference between this room and the living room right outside. This room... was full of love. Unabashed, unashamed, caring, gentle, caressing, forevermore; love.

A part of Yang seemed to stir, trying to come back to live after it had died... but it couldn't. It was just too broken, and that hurt more than having it dead.

Yang lay there, feeling that part of her die more and more each minute it couldn't revive itself, and she cried. She cried because it hurt, because there was a bit of her soul left that mourned the lose of Yang Xiao Long, a little piece that wished to be in that bed with Blake, to have Adrian in the other room, to know Ruby was safe, to see a future there - but all of that was gone. And she cried at that revelation.

...

Yang woke up the next morning, and felt - different. The tears were long gone, and the part that had been in agony the night before wasn't just dead; it was also gone. Yang couldn't feel it anymore, and it's death and departure allowed her to think clearly. She knew what she had to do. She had to pretend, play along, hurt, get that bastard - Junior - into prison, and then leave. Never looking back.

'Heh, guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh, mom? We're both running away from love.'


	22. Ready

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is only part one of the next chapter

It was the trial date, and Yang walked into the courthouse side-by-side with Ruby, Blake and Weiss holding a conversation a few steps behind them. Cameras were flashing, capturing and immortalizing them in picture. Yang had decided to wear a solid yellow button up, with a black tie, black slacks, and black dress shoes with her new prosthetic arm glinting in the light. Ruby had gone for a simple baby blue blouse, a black skirt, and boots. Weiss was wearing a white shirt with a rose embroidered on the bosom, white jeans, and red flats. Blake chose a navy blue v-neck, a black french blazer, dark blue jeans, and sand colored high heeled sandals.

They got to the court room to wait the ten minutes until the trial began.

Weiss excused herself to go to the bathroom.

"So, how are you feeling?" Ruby asked Yang, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Fine."

"You're not nervous or anything?"

"No. I just want to put that man into prison to rot."

Ruby glanced at Blake, who was staring at her hands - pretending to not listen, but her twitching and mostly flattened ears giving her away. "We all do."

Weiss returned...

With a faunus man and woman following closely behind.

"Mom?! Dad?!" Blake gasped, standing up speedily and watching in rapt silence as her parents approached. "I thought... I thought both of you were dead. I gave up hope..." She finally sobbed out.

Ghira and Kali ran to their daughter and pulled her into a tight embrace, crying tears of their own.

"And you would have always thought that," Ghira said as they broke away, "If it were not for your amazing friend, Weiss Schnee."

Blake turned to her. "Thank you, thank you so much! If there is anything I can do to repay you, please let me know!"

Weiss smiled and nodded. "I've been working on their case for a while now and when I found them I thought I should surprise you, so you wouldn't be distracted from-" Weiss looked at Yang. "Other things."

Yang rolled her eyes and Kali looked at her with a bright smile. "Last time Blake and I talked, she mentioned you with no small amount of compliment. I just want to say thank you, for making her happy."

The blonde didn't respond, her red eyes caught the light and seemed to glow.

Ruby was about to say something, to break the thick silence that had fallen over them, but she didn't have a chance before the door opened and more people started filing in. The crowd was buzzing when Junior was led in, but all the sound seemed to be sucked from the room once some noticed his entrance.

He was led to the chair where he would sit for the remainder of the trial, which was opposite the isle from where Yang was sitting.

"All rise, his honor Hazel Rainart is now presiding." The bailiff called out, signaling the starting of the trial.

Everyone stood.

"You may be seated." Judge Rainart announced as he sat down.

Everyone sat back down.

Rainart opened the file before him, peering at it's contents. "Xiong versus Xiao Long. Today defendant Xiong is on trial for three accounts of third degree torture, four counts of psychological torture, and three counts of attempted murder. Defendant, how do you plead?"

Junior's lawyer stood up. "My client pleads innocent on account of temporary insanity."

The crowd erupted in voiced protest.

"Order, order in the court!" Rainart banged his gavel. "Mr Rice, would you like to begin with your first witness?"

Yang's lawyer stood up. "Yes, your honor."

"You may proceed."

"I would like to call up my client, Miss Xiao Long."

"Yang Xiao Long to the stand." The bailiff called out.

Yang stood up and walked to the stand, promised to tell the truth, and sat down, leveling her gaze on her lawyer.

"Please state your name, for the record."

"Yang Xiao Long."

"The kingdom you live in."

"Vale."

"Your gender."

"Female."

"Now we may begin." He looked down at the file he was holding. "Miss Xiao Long, is it true that two and a half years ago you filed a restraining order against Mr Xiong?"

"It is."

"Can you please tell the court why?"

"Yes. I filed the restraining order against the defendant because he was harassing me, stalking me, and had even become physically violent."

"In what way?"

"Slapping me, grabbing and squeezing my arm to cause bruises, shoving me, anything he could do that wouldn't get him seriously charged."

"Did the restraining order go through?"

"No."

"And why is that?"

Yang smiled a grim smile, "Because there wasn't sufficient enough evidence of harassment."

Several people on the jury gasped.

Rice continued, "Did the harassment go on?"

"Yes."

"On a scale of one to ten, one being relatively low and ten being unbearable, how bad was the harassment at first?"

"Three."

"What would you describe that number to be?"

"Unsettling and nerve-wracking."

"On that same scale, how bad did it get further on?"

"It got to an eight."

"And how bad is an 'eight'?"

"Panic and anxiety attack level."

The jury talked among themselves.

The next question came, "Miss Xiao Long, you filed another restraining order a little over two years ago, is that correct?"

"That is correct."

"And did that one go through?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know."

"Is it true you talked to several police officers before filing one just to make sure your restraining order would go through?"

"Yes."

"What did they say?"

"They said there was no reason the restraining order wouldn't go through."

"But it didn't?"

"Correct."

"Do you have any theories as to why this might be?"

"I do."

"Please share them with the court."

"Mr Xiong had a friend in the police station, someone who looked through restraining orders and other things and approved or denied them."

Mr Rice began pacing, "And you believe the defendant called in a favor, asked his friend to deny your request?"

"Yes."

Most of the jury had been nodding along, following the story set up for them to see.

"I see, no more questions, your honor."

Rainart nodded. "Mr Coole, would you like to cross-examine?"

"Yes, your honor."

"You may proceed."

Coole stood up and walked around the table. He stopped with a sigh and a pulled at the lapel of his jacket to straighten it. "Miss Xiao Long, in your official statement you said, and I quote; 'Mr Xiong expressed both regret and amusement at my torture, both smiling and screaming in anger at what he was doing'. I was hoping you'd elaborate."

"I had thought I made myself clear-"

"Just answer the question." Coole interrupted, leaning against the surface behind him.

Yang had to swallow her anger. "As I was going to say; he seemed torn between emotions. Stuck between _wanting_ to torture me and feeling like he needed to."

"I see. So he seemed emotionally conflicted to you?"

Yang knew immediately what Coole was doing and she couldn't do anything about it - yet. "Yes."

"Did my client always seem that way to you? Everyday? Enough of the time for it to catch your attention?"

"He only ever acted that way when he was being particularly abusive - so I would say enough of the time for it to catch my attention." Yang looked at Junior as she said this and he leveled a stunned gaze on her, which - to say the least - was not what she had been expecting.

"Miss Xiao Long, when you were 11, you were sent to a mental institution for three days. Why?"

She gritted her teeth, then released her jaw, letting the dim pressure fade. "A boy bullied my sister, a group of them actually. She came home bruised and cut up. I saw and took care of her, then I made her tell me who did it. When I found them, I hurt them ten times worse than they hurt her. The judge who oversaw my case decided I could use some downtime in the nearest institution before I did the rest of my sentence."

Yang watched as Weiss pulled Ruby close and Blake looked away.

"And what was the rest of your sentence?"

"A week of community service."

"A week of community service, at 11. You must have done a number on them."

"I did. They were all hospitalized."

Blake left the room.

"Did you regret what you did?"

"Yes."

"How so?"

"I regretted beating them up because that is not who my father taught me to be, nor was it the kind-of person I wanted to be."

"Did you feel that there was anything else you could have done?"

"I could have told an adult."

"But did you feel that way at the time?" Coole pushed.

"No."

Blake's parents left.

"Did you feel that way after you served your sentence?"

"No."

"Did you feel that way a week or a month later?"

"No."

"How about months later?"

"No."

"When did you feel that way?"

Ruby was staring at Yang, silver eyes hoping for this trial to go well.

"Years later."

"And during those years, how many more times were you institutionalized for aggression?"

"Two more times."

"And how many were hospitalized because of your actions?"

"All of them."

The jury was going wild.

"I have no more questions your honor."

Yang got down from the stand and watched as Blake, Ilia, Ruby, Weiss, Sun, and Tai-yang were all examined and cross examined, not counting the countless doctors and police officers who were even semi relevant to the case. The trial came to a close, the jury were sent back to deliberate, and all the while Junior hadn't stopped staring at her. It sent a chill up her spine, but it also made her smile. She wanted him to stare, to watch in awe as she broke him down and destroyed his world. Yang just wished he didn't look so shocked.


	23. Can You Blame Me

Yang sat in silence as Ruby and Weiss talked.

"Why didn't they bring Junior up? That's very uncharacteristic for a trial..." Weiss trailed off, thinking.

"I don't know," Ruby rubbed her arm nervously. "But I got a bad feeling."

Weiss wrapped an arm around the younger woman, "I do too, but I'm sure it's fine. We'll get through this - like we always do."

Yang's head pounded, her nerves felt like they were on fire. She wanted to run, run far away from court and everyone. But she also wanted to rage, to roar. It felt like a monster was buried inside her, fighting against some unknown blankness that wanted to take over. It was a war beyond emotions, because she had none. That part of her soul disintegrated the night she spent at Blake's house. What exactly it was a war over? Yang no idea, but it made her ache on the inside.

Ruby smiled at Weiss and laid an arm over Yang's shoulders, pulling her close. "You're right, we  _can_  get through this."

Yang let herself shift into Ruby, but she settled her gaze on Blake. She was across the hall they were waiting in, talking to her parents. She kept looking back at Yang, and the red-eyed woman noticed. How could she not? Blake was crying. Yang noticed that too.

The time passed, as it makes a habit of doing. They were called back into court and as Yang walked in she felt a ghost of what she might have called "fear" before Junior tore her very soul to pieces. The monster clawed and fought to get out for a moment when she saw Junior, but the void did not retreat.

Yang didn't listen to the judge calling in the jury, she didn't watch them filing into their seats. Why should she? Either they will let him go, or they will sentence him to years in prison. The choice didn't affect Yang, not any more. She didn't care, he took that ability from her. Yet, even if she did care - it wouldn't matter. Yang wasn't going to be anywhere near any of them once the trial was over. She was going to leave and never look back, all the past held for her was wasted time.

The court room erupted into cheers, Ruby was laughing and embracing Weiss, Blake was crying tears of joy, and Ilia who was watching from Menagerie through Face-clocking was clapping and cheering. Applause filled the room. Yang stood, she didn't watch Junior be led away. She didn't join in on the celebration, she simply left. Yang had no idea if they even noticed she was gone, all she cared about was leaving. All she wanted was to get away from the memories, from the people. She made it to the sidewalk and started running as fast as she could towards Ruby's house where she had been staying. Her arms pumped as her feet pounded against the ground. When cars got in her way, she vaulted over them. She dodged people left and right, but she didn't stop or break her pace.

She had already packed her duffel bag, so when she burst through the door of the guest room, she grabbed her bag, her keys, and went down to where she locked her bike Bumblebee. In a moment she was revving the engine and taking off. The wind blew her hair back and rippled through her clothes. It might have made her feel free, but instead the monster and the blankness continued to fight - harder.

Her scroll buzzed and vibrated with every call and text she got, but Yang ignored it.

The roads passed by as Yang zoomed to the nearest train station, which was an hour away. She had to stop for gas, so she pulled into a rinky-dink looking gas station and was filling her tank when her scroll stopped ringing and her sister started talking.

"Yang, please answer our calls, our texts, anything!" Ruby's desperate voice pleaded. "You don't have to tell us where you are, we just need to know you are okay! Please!" There was a pause. "Please... I won't be able to handle it if you are hurt - I can't lose you. Not now. Please, please just tell me you are okay. I love you." The message ended and she pulled her scroll out of her pocket. Yang held it over the trashcan, the simple act of her opening her hand would cause it to fall in. Ruby's words played over in her mind, and she didn't know what, but something made her type out 'I'm fine, don't worry.' and send it before dropping the device into the trash.

With a sigh she was off again, and nothing was in her way. No one could stop her now, she was on her way to freedom. At least that's what the monster said, the darkness - the void - said nothing. It didn't care where Yang went, it just wanted her to be as blank as it was. It knew what happened to Yang when Junior tortured her, but it didn't reveal that, not yet. No, it kept that a secret, hid the answer deep in Yang's mind. It knew how to show her what happened when it would hurt her the most, it wanted to make her very existence full of pain. It wanted her to hate emotion so she would abandon it and accept the nothingness.

The monster knew what happened too, but it didn't care. It just raged and roared, and shook the inside of Yang's mind. And tore her apart further with its anger.

Yang... Yang did nothing but drive. And it seemed she would be eternally along for the ride.


	24. Not Unwelcome

Yang was lounged back on the bed in the room she was occupying on the train that will take her as far as the shores of Vale, whence she will board a boat to take her to Mistral. She hadn't been on the train long, only an hour, but that small amount of time was enough to make her bored out of her mind. The train was stopped at a small town and has remained there for the past 15 minutes while the workers unloaded some of the supplies they had. The announcer stated it will be another 10 or 15 minutes until the train starts moving again, so keeping this in mind, Yang stood up and opened her door, heading down the hallway to the nearest exit.

Once she was outside, Yang made her way into the town, looking at the different stores. She came across a coffee shop and went inside, the familiar smell almost made her want to turn around and leave, but she ignored the feeling and walked up to the counter.

"Coffee, black." She said to the cashier, pulling out her wallet and handed the boy 10 Lien. "Keep the change."

He took it, blushing deeply. "T-thanks," he went into the back to grab her order and while he was gone Yang took the chance to look at the other patrons enjoying their coffee or maybe a pastry.

Her order was pushed across the counter, "H-have a good day."

Yang picked it up and walked out, not looking back.

The walk back to the train was almost calming, if Yang could call anything that anymore. She opened the door to her room and paused, sighing at the sight of a certain black-haired Faunus. Yang closed the door behind her, turning to meet Blake's gaze. "Sneaking into my room while I'm gone? That's new."

Blake said nothing, she only watched Yang as she took a seat on her bed next to Blake and pulled out her scroll to play some games.

The train started moving a couple of minutes later and only then did Blake say anything. "No protest, no trying to throw me off the train?"

"It's none of my business what you do," Yang replied simply, still gazing at her scroll.

Blake almost laughed. "Really? Honestly?"

"Yes," Yang looked up. "Why would it be my business?"

"It's not..." Blake paused, thinking her words through before continuing. "But after all, we've been through together, you're going to tell me you don't give a shit?"

"Once again, why would I care what you're doing?"

"Not just about that, Yang."

"Then what about?"

"I dunno, your job, your sister, your  _kid_. Are you seriously telling me that you're just leaving him behind?! You know you're everything to him."

Yang shook her head, looking away. "Heh, the funny thing is, almost everything you just listed, is a reminder of what happened. Not to mention, why the fuck would I care about my job? It was a crappy job, full of a bunch of crappy people. Except for Sun, he was a decent guy."

"Really, Yang?!" Blake jumped up, looking very pissed off. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

"What?" Yang asked with an expression of boredom.

"We were all there for you through everything! You even dumped me because you were  _terrified_ , Yang! And I get it, the man who beat the shit out of you for years came back, hurt the people you love, but no one held a damn thing against you! No matter what guilt or self-hate you feel, none of us hold you accountable! But if you go through with this, we will. Because you are leaving behind your kid! And guess what, he had to watch his mother get  _raped_! So I'm sorry he's a reminder! But tell me what you are to him?! Tell me you don't think you're just as much of a reminder to him! But you're his mother, so no matter what he'll still look for you when he has nightmares, he'll still search for you to play with, he'll still tell you everything, he'll still want to be near you! Why don't you get that?! Why are you acting like you don't feel anything?!" Blake was panting, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Because I don't."

Blake slumped against the wall, running her hands through her hair. "What happened to you...?" She whispered.

"My soul died, and all that's left is my body."

...

Blake stared out the window of the train's cafeteria, sipping cheap chamomile tea. Yang slid into the seat next to her.

"Whatcha doing?" The blonde asked, leaning against her right arm, the cool metal feeling good against her cheek.

"Passing the time."

"Until?"

"Until I get off at the next stop."

"Why would you do that?"

Blake looked at the love of her life and felt her heart clench. "What do you mean 'why'?"

Yang seemed to deliberate. "You're already here," was all she said.

"I thought was unwelcome...?"

"Nope, just a surprise."


	25. The Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Book 2 will be called Carnage and it should be posted by October first. Thank you to all of the readers out there for taking the time to read my story! You guys make my day every time you comment and leave kudos!

_"Dear Blake,_

_How are you? Where are you? As I'm sure you know; I'm going to be sending all of my letters to the Mistral post office, since your exact location is unknown._

_How is Yang? Last time you contacted me you said her soul was broken? I don't understand what that means, but if I'm going to trust anyone other than myself to try and bring her back, it would be you._

_Adrian misses her a lot, he asks about her every day. He's still having nightmares, really bad ones. He sleeps with me and Weiss at night because he says he can see Junior in the shadows. Adrian will sometimes just burst into tears now too, not that I don't get it, I'm just worried about him. And he misses you too, in case you were wondering. Maybe you could just come back and leave Yang to sort things out on her own? Or you could go back to Menagerie and Weiss would watch our little buddy while I look for Yang! I'm only saying that because your parents miss you, Blake. They call and ask if I've heard back from you every day. Yang isn't your responsibility, so if you ever feel like you can't handle her anymore, just let me know and I'll go after her. Please, at least consider it._

_Is there any way you could bring her home by force though? Drugs? Stealth and a few shots to the leg? Heh, but I suppose it wouldn't be that easy, would it?_

_Neptune finally asked Lily out! They've been dating for less than a week but they're already as in-love as ever._

_Ilia is face-clocking almost every day, she asks about you and Yang. All we told her was that Yang needed a break from life for a little while and you went with her. She and Adrian will talk for hours about nothing, just shows they like and the newest video games. It really helps Adrian calm down after a nightmare or a flashback._

_I'm thinking about proposing to Weiss! I've got the ring planned out and everything. Please tell me you guys are going to be back before I propose, that's a moment I want my sister to be here to witness. I've already to talked to my dad about it and gives me and Weiss his blessing! You would be one of my Bridesmaids (if you accept!) and Yang will be the Maiden of Honor!_

_Tell Yang I love her... and take care of her for me._

_Sincerely and with love,_

_Ruby Rose"_

Blake read over the short message for a second time, feeling her heart throb in pain upon re-reading about how torn up Adrian is. Everything that happened was cruel enough to the poor boy, but now with Yang leaving him, Blake can't imagine what he must be going through.

"Kitty! Time for dinner!" Yang called up to Blake, who was lounging in a tree.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute!" She said back, folding up Ruby's letter and tucking it away in her jacket's breast pocket. With one last glance at the beautiful view she got from the tree's vantage point, she leaped down.

"C'mon, you know how if you don't hurry the bandits will eat all the food!" Yang yelled over her shoulder as she jogged ahead to camp.

Blake shook her head, 'How did it come to this? How the hell did I get stuck in a bandit camp with borderline insane Yang and her birth-mom?'


End file.
